Rose Weasley and the Sorting Dispute
by Hyk
Summary: The last thing Rose Weasley expected was to get sorted into any house but Gryffindor. Now not only must she live up to her parents' high expectations, but she finds herself struggling to fit in with her odd classmates. Meanwhile, Rose must keep Hagrid's illicit activities hidden and try to find the person who keeps sending her cryptic messages. First book in series.
1. Kimblo The Gnome

**I told myself I wasn't going to start writing fanfiction. Multiple times. So much for "just reading" that "one" story that started this addiction…**

**Anyhow, I decided I may as well write one. I noticed there didn't seem to be very many second gen fics(Perhaps this is just me? If you know any fantastic ones feel free to mention them in a review or PM me!), and the ones I have read didn't exactly hold my attention. Then one day this idea just sort of tackled my head. I went to my computer, outlined a little idea, and left it for a while. It was not long before it jumped out at me again, and I ended up writing out the basic plot for a seven book series involving Rose Weasley.**

**Whoops.**

**I do have most of my pairings picked out, but I am not going to reveal them until the time comes. I also think this may become rather dark in later books(Around the sixth or seventh.) as I have found myself a villain for this series(I will not say who). I will try to make things as realistic as possible, as realistic as a Harry Potter fanfiction can be, anyway.**

**Also, sometimes I make up words when writing and forget to replace them when I publish. I also tend to make silly writing mistakes that no matter how many times I read through I miss. Please tell me if you notice that I have done this!**

**So this is my first fanfiction ever. **_**Ever**_…**. Wish me luck, and most importantly, enjoy!:D**

**(Disclaimer- The realm of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. **_**Not me.**_ **This will be my one disclaimer for the book.)**

The walls moved with her thoughts; twisting, crawling and etching their way across the plaster and paint like a breathing mural. There was nothing particularly deep the girl ever thought about, mostly the things typical eleven year olds ponder, so the forms on the wall took on an almost cartoonish shape. Today, the black silhouettes of dragons leaped across the pale green walls and sparred with golden shadows of men clad in bulky armour. The small girl with dark red hair was completely immersed in her own world until there was a soft knock at her door.

The dragons and knights imploded, and small black ribbons of thought flickered up the wall and across the ceiling, surrounding the woman who now entered the room. The black ribbons seemed to acknowledge the fact that this woman was their creator.

"Rose," The woman started, running a hand through her frizzled brown hair and sweeping it up into a ponytail. "I just got home and am heading to Diagon Alley, would you like to come to the apothecary with me?"

"Of course Mom! Can I look at the pets, too?" Rose squeaked, hopping off her bed and scurrying towards her mother. Her mother stopped her at the door, turned, and motioned towards a hairbrush. The small girl groaned.

Rose had, in an unfortunate draw of fate, inherited her mother's impossible head of hair and her father's robust red color. Being difficult to brush, the hair was often not cared for unless dictated by her mother, Hermione Granger. There was a good reason Rose had an aversion to running a comb through her hair.

Her hair now a wild afro, Rose scowled at her mother.

"Mom, I think I'm staying home, on second thought." She growled through clenched teeth.

"Dear, just put it up. Nobody will be able to tell."

After a few more moments of struggle that involved both persons, Rose was somewhat successful in taming her hair in a bun and they were on their way. They decided to floo into Flourish and Blotts, so they could both purchase the new book Luna Lovegood, a family friend, had just published.

"_The Book About Salamanders; A Complete Guide to Your Fiery Friends,_" Hermione read aloud, giving a small chuckle. Rose could feel confuzzlement wash over her.

"Aren't Salamanders a real problem right now? Why would they be our 'fiery friends'?"

"They've been _hell _on the floo network the last few years. They've somehow been traveling through the network and eating people's fires and floo powder. The floo network must know animal languages, I suspect, considering they are able to travel from one house to another. I just don't know how they…" Hermione handed Rose a copy of the book and continued to lecture about her theory about salamander transportation. Rose didn't bother listening, and looked over her copy of the white book. Funnily enough, the book felt warm in her hands. She flipped it open somewhere in the middle, and was greeted by a burst of heat and flames.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed, dropping the book and looking to her mother for explanation. She was met with laughter, and glared in response. Her mother stopped laughing and explained,

"Luna thought it would be a great idea to simulate the heat of a salamander's flame on that page. I tried to tell her to add a warning, and she explained to me that she didn't like it when people read pages out of order. The warning is in one of the previous chapters." Rose wrinkled her nose, not impressed with the idea. At least, she supposed, the book hadn't been about nargles.

"Mom, can I run over and look at the cats in the Magical Menagerie?"

Hermione looked over at her daughter, then closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She had explained this so many times.

"Rosie, we've told you this countless times. We aren't getting you a cat for two reasons; you have one at home already, and an owl is much more practical for school." Rose felt a sick feeling in her stomach as she walked up to the counter and handed over Luna's book. She disliked owls, and much preferred the company of a furry feline. Some irrational part of her had hoped that badgering her parents would eventually result in a new cat companion.

Hermione began to walk to the front of the store and motioned for Rose to bring her book up front. Still chattering, Rose's mother continued.

"Now, we should really get going to the apothecary before it closes. I need bat blood for a potion I have to brew tomorrow and Garrison won't be happy with me if I don't get it. If we leave now we can catch Mr. Blanchard before he closes up."

With both books purchased, Rose rolled her eyes as her mother started to drone on about the revealing properties of bat blood. She barely made it past the first sentence before she was daydreaming about the upcoming school year.

Her _first_ school year.

In all honesty Rose couldn't tell if she was nervous or excited to board the Hogwarts Express in a month. On one hand, she couldn't wait to go off to school with her cousins and meet new people. She also couldn't wait to meet her teachers and partake in her classes.

There was also, however, the niggling fear that something would go wrong. She wasn't sure what. Sometimes she worried that her cousins would go off and make friends without her and she would be forgotten. There was the fear of getting lost in the maze-like school, and meeting an unfavorable teacher. She had heard frightening stories about terrible accidents or afflictions. Her mother had told her that in her second year she was petrified by a basilisk. She also often worried she wouldn't make any friends in her house, but none of these compared to her biggest fear.

Her father had always hinted that he expected great things from her, and Rose had always lived up to his expectations. Despite this, she worried she wouldn't do as well academically as her parents wanted or expected of her. It seemed silly to worry, but worry she did.

"So what do you think Rose?" The question broke through Rose's troubled thoughts.

"Erm, could you repeat what you just said?" Rose asked, innocently playing with the hem of her shirt.

"You were ignoring me again, Rose. I wish you would stop doing that. I was just talking about how Hogwarts had received almost completely new staff. But I'm not going to repeat myself." Hermione opened the door of the apothecary for Rose, who walked inside. Hermione followed behind her, closing the door with a quiet _woosh_.

"How can I help you two ladies?" A grizzled man with two missing teeth greeted the two as they entered.

"Hello, Mr Blanchard. Would you happen to have some bat blood in stock?" Hermione asked, handing Rose her Flourish and Blotts bag. Rose wandered over to look at the porcupine quills as Mr Blanchard lead Hermione over to his selection of bat blood. She could almost hear her mother talking the man's ear off from across the room.

Rose inspected the porcupine quills in front of her, trying to remember what her mother had said about choosing quality quills. Something about the difference between brittle quills and flexible ones.

The bell on the door jingled, and a familiar face stepped in. A face with pale green eyes, and two scars across his face; one on his cheek and a lightning shaped bolt on his forehead. He walked over to Rose and greeted her warmly.

"Hey Rosie," he said, ruffling her bun and making a mess. "What are you and your mom up to?"

"Mom needed bat blood for work tomorrow," Rose replied, struggling to fix her mane of hair. Harry noticed her struggle and cast a silent spell that wrapped her hair back up into a messy ponytail. Rose made a mental note to ask him later what the spell was.

"Well, your Aunt Gin needed some porcupine quills for making dinner tonight. Do you remember how to pick the good ones?" Harry moved next to her and handed her a springy quill. Rose suddenly remembered what her mother had told her.

"Not the springy ones! They either were plucked too soon or are soaked with magic." Harry nodded with a smile and handed her a different one. This one was extremely brittle.

"Only to be used in potions that aren't stirred counterclockwise, otherwise it could be weak or dysfunctional." Rose recited the words as she had heard from her mother. Harry began to laugh, picking out some fresh quills that weren't too dry or too flexible. He brought them to the counter, where they were weighed by a plump, short witch. He dished out some sickles and handed Rose the change.

"Go buy something that will make your mom mad. I think Bertie's Every Flavored Beans still employs house elves in their packaging plants. I need to talk with your mom and we can meet you over there."

Rose didn't waste another minute in the boring apothecary and sped off towards the new candy store that had been opened, called Calio's Confections. It had only been around for less than a week, and already she had heard many friends and family rave about the candies and pastries that lined the walls of the store.

A rush of chilled air meet Rose as she entered, sending goosebumps prickling up her arms and legs. She couldn't help wondering why the store was so cold. As if reading her thoughts, an American voice rang out from underneath the register.

"Hello Miss! Could you lend me a hand?"

Rose rushed over to the counter, where she saw the man with the accent laying underneath a colossal gummy bear. She immediately tried to push it off the man, but found that she couldn't seem to remove the pesky green bear from on top of him as it was much too heavy. The American groaned, then said,

"If you could hand me my wand, I could get it off. It rolled under the door to the kitchen over there."

Rose cautiously pushed the door open, and saw the wand laying on the floor near a refrigerator. She found it odd that the man used a muggle artifact in his kitchen.

In fact, upon further inspection she noticed many muggle tools. There were multiple fridges, ovens, and deep freezers. Pots and pans littered the counters and were hanging off the ceiling and the walls. She noticed a few machines she didn't recognize, and figured that they too looked like muggle creations.

Turning back out of the kitchen with the man's wand in hand, she handed it to him. He gave a sigh of relief and waved it, and to Rose's surprise the bear got up and walked itself back over to pen where other gummy bears in various sizes were milling around, snoozing, or playing with each other.

"That one got out and tried to eat me," the American boomed behind Rose, his loud voice startling her.

"Tried to eat you?" Rose inquired.

"Yes, Gummy Bears made for hunting are quite vicious. One almost took my leg when I did a hunting stint in Canada."

"They have wild Gummy Bears in Canada than? I didn't know that was a… thing."

"Wealthy American witches and wizards enjoy purchasing Gummy bears and then releasing them on their properties. They than hunt them down the muggle way with guns. It's been all the rage recently."

Rose looked at the American and scrunched her eyes together in confusion.

"And you just let these Gummy Bears run around your store?"

"Goodness, no! They are behind that magical corral over there and normally they can't get out. My theory is some kid used accidental magic and let that one go. Once I started to close up the store the bugger snuck up behind me and tried to eat me. I managed to stun him before any harm was done, but he fell on me and knocked my wand from my hand. About an hour later, you walked in.

"Speaking of which, you must want something! What can I get you? It's on me since you helped me out."

"Could I get some Bertie's Every Flavored Beans?" Rose asked. The American nodded and reached up to a shelf near him and pulled down the largest box of beans Rose had ever seen. Her eyes widened as he handed the box to her and said she didn't need to pay.

"Is everything in your store this huge?" Rose asked, looking around. She could hardly heft the box up it was so huge.

"That is the general appeal, yes. Except for the things that I make right in the kitchen back there, those are regular sized. Could I ask your name, Miss?"

"Rose. Rose Weasley. What's your name, Sir?"

"Abram Calio. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rose."

"Rose, did you find something?" The voice of Rose's mother rang from the entrance.

"Yeah Mom, I did. Look at the size of these beans! I'll be making Albus eat these for months." Rose turned to Abram Calio, and waved. "See you Mr. Calio! Don't get eaten by any Gummy Bears!"

Mr. Calio waved back and said his goodbye, and then Rose and her mother made their way outside. Part ways down the road Hermione spoke.

"Did you still want to visit the Magical Menagerie? We could if you wanted." Rose shook her head and placed her Bertie's Beans in her book bag.

"Naw, can we just go home? I'm getting tired."

The two flooed back home through The Leaky Caldron, and Rose found her way snuggled into her bed and fast asleep. She dreamt of the upcoming party the next day.

* * *

Rose woke with a start, realizing it was the irritated meow of her beloved knealze cross that had woken her. The cat-knealze, lovingly named Kamikaze, was always sure to wake her up every morning at the exact same time, and today was no exemption.

"Shush! I'm coming, cat!" Rose hissed, pulling on an oversized sweater and staggering towards her bedroom door. The shadows of her thought raced across the walls in the form of flat faced cats that mewled at her as she exited.

Rose made her way through the quiet hallway to the back door, where a large white cat with a smooshed face stood impatiently. Rose opened the screen door, allowing the bushy tailed cat to race into the house.

There was a crash from the kitchen and Rose groaned. The cat had broken something again, probably the ancient vase her mother insisted on keeping above the oven.

Rose's assumption was correct; the purple vase lay scattered on the kitchen tile in jagged shards. Rose shut her eyes, imagining the broken vase piecing itself together and floating back onto the shelf above the oven. When Rose opened her eyes, she found that the vase was back in its proper place, and the cat was nowhere to be found.

She had been doing this every morning for the past year, repairing the broken vase with her magic. She had done it by accident the first time, and the next morning replicated the feat. When she had gone and told her mother Hermione had explained it was her accidental magic. Hermione then proceeded to try and make Rose replicate the magic. Initially, Rose enjoyed the attention from her parents. But eventually the nagging to show her talents became annoying, and she began to pretend that she was no longer capable of fixing things.

"Rose, what are you doing awake so early?" A man in his underwear stood in the doorway with tousled red hair that was turning grey. For the most part he still looked very much asleep.

"I was hungry, Dad," she replied, grabbing a pumpkin bar from the counter.

"Toss me one, too, will you? I'm bloody starving."

* * *

Rose had been looking forward to the Potter-Weasley family party all week, knowing full well there would be plenty of jubilee ahead. Just the thought of the event sent excitement racing through her blood.

They would be celebrating the three July birthdays; Rose, her Uncle Harry, and her cousin Albus. The families would all get together: Harry and Ginny Potter with their three children James, Albus, and Lily; Ron and Hermione Weasley with their two children Rose and Hugo; Grandma and Grandpa Weasley; Grandma and Grandpa Granger. Andromeda and Teddy would stop by, as well as Ron's many brothers and their children.

Hermione also had a cousin by the name of Dustin Farley, who had a daughter that had attended Hogwarts the previous three years with James Potter. Harry too, had a cousin who had brought his family once. Rose could never remember his name, but he had brought his wife and son about three years ago. Harry had failed to mention there would be magic present at the event, and the wife fainted when Uncle George had set himself on fire as a trick for the children. They had politely declined all future invitations.

There would be food and confection galore, muggle games, various wizard sports, and the annual late night storytelling. The night time story telling was the unobjectable family favorite, as everyone enjoyed spending quality time each other. Everyone had a tale to share, and every genre was explored.

Rose's father would tell the same story he always did; the one where he "single-handedly saved" the Quidditch match against Slytherin in his sixth year. This story varied depending on how much Mr. Weasley had drank that night; the more alcohol he had imbibed, the more wild and dangerous the story got.

Uncle Harry would tell about his many different adventures; most of which were subtle hints about the numerous ways you can break the rules at Hogwarts. He also hinted that he may or may not have a map of Hogwarts and an invisibility cloak stashed in the house. James had been searching the house since he started school, but had yet to find it.

Ginny Potter, called Aunt Gin by most, would recount various mishaps with the various boys she had dated in her Hogwarts years. Rose had the sneaking suspicion that Aunt Gin did this intentionally to both amuse and irritate Uncle Harry, but could never pinpoint the definitive reason why.

The grandparents would tell embarrassing stories about their children that amused their grandchildren to no end. Their definite favorite was about Rose's father at the Yule Ball in his fourth year, where he was forced to wear atrocious robes to the dance.

Rose had not, however, counted on her father and her Uncle Harry to bail on the party because of difficulties at work. Nobody in the immediate family had missed the party in the nine years they had thrown it, and this would be the first break in the family tradition.

She had overheard the entire conversation between her mother and her father through the fireplace. Rose had not intended to eavesdrop, but she had an ideal listening place from the kitchen and the hushed voices of the living room had beckoned to her. From her position, she had been able to see her father's facial features formed by the dying coals, and her mother knelt in her cleaning clothes beside the grate.

"But Ron, it's our family party. This only happens once a year, is it really that important? Surely the Ministry could afford you and Harry for one night at least..." Hermione seemed upset, as she was playing with the seam of her shirt while she spoke.

"I can't talk about it specifically right now, Reginald is in here like a rat listening in to my private conversation." Rose's father replied with gritted teeth.

"Oy!" An unfamiliar voice called through the flames. "Jus' doin' my job an' makin' sure you aren't telling anyone about you-know-what until it's you-know-when!"

"Hello Reggi, is that you?" Hermione asked, dipping her head into the fireplace and looking for another face. A face emerged from the coals, one with sharp and prominent features.

"Righ' here m'am. Sorry bou' the listen' in, good 'ole Kingsley told me to monitor the fur-places and make sure nobody is bleedin' their 'eart out to sommat who shouldn't be hearing it. I should prolly get movin' now, to make sure I am in a position where I can keep tabs on everything. I was jist popping my head in for a quick list'n." Rose did not like the man's accent, which seemed fake. She noticed he alternated between a very slurred accent, sometimes cutting of the ends of his sentences and other times speaking clearly. As Rose was contemplating this, she noticed that the man's face had disappeared from the pit.

"Thank Merlin that ferret is gone, I don't like the looks of him, 'Mione." Ron remarked, tightening his face.

"Ron, quit being so suspicious all the time! He's only been working for the Ministry for-"

"A few months? Exactly my point- what man decides once he's in his late fifties that he wants to work at the British Ministry? Yet he magically has all the credentials to be a Head of Office, when I've been working there for-"

"Me too, Ron. I've been working there too, remember? Reggi also has been working in government the last 45 years of his life in India, which is almost more than both of our experiences togeth-"

"He's listening again." Ron interrupted, somehow making his eyeroll noticeable through the coals. Hermione laughed, and then said,

"I'll look into it, though. If it would make you feel better getting those gnomes out of the garden. And try to find time soon to tell me what is going on..." Hermione fed the dying fire a fat log. The action made Ron sneeze, which sent a plume of ash into Hermione's face. She scowled at him fiercely.

"Okay, that would be great," Ron laughed. He then paused, as if in thought, then added," And you have something on your nose. I would get that off before the party if I were you."

There was a soft noise, the sound of ash and coals resettling, and the face disappeared. Hermione got up quickly and fled the room, murmuring incoherently and screwing up her face in thought.

* * *

"I don't think that is going to be apple pie flavored. The last time I had one that color it tasted like wood"

"Well the last time I had one it was apple pie, and very delicious." Row countered her brother, Hugo. Hugo rolled his eyes and watched Rose pop the jelly bean into her mouth. Her eyes widened and she spat it out.

"That was neither apple pie or wood flavored! I think it was liver, but I've never had liver before. Do you want to try it?" Hugo backed away, hands raised.

"No way. I saw the way you spat that out; It was something worse than liver!" Rose rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch she was sitting on in the living room.

"I would never do that Hugo! What sort of person do you think I am?"

"A right nasty one, from what I've learned from living with you!"

"Oh, come on Hugo. I know you like liver, and obviously I don't, if that is what liver tastes like. Just try it for Merlin's sake!" Hugo eyed his sister with utmost suspicion, but proceeded to eat the jelly bean. His eyes grew large, and he nearly choked on the bean in order to remove it from his mouth. Rose couldn't stifle her laughing, and Hugo glared at her as be wiped drool from his mouth.

"I can't believe you Rose! You know I hate oatmeal! The stuff makes me want to spew!"

Rose replied to Hugo's outburst with abundant laughter, clutching at her sides and turning red from lack of breath.

"What's so funny in here?" A soft voice asked from the doorway. Rose and Hugo turned to see their cousin Albus leaning against the frame of the door. He was playing with something in his hands, something that resembled a perfectly spherical rock.

Albus walked over to join them on the couch, sinking into the cushion next to Rose. Rose replied to his question as he handed the "rock" to Hugo.

"Hugo just had an oatmeal flavored bean. He just about died trying to get rid-"

"Is this for me?" Hugo asked, eyes wide. Rose scowled at him for interrupting her, but her eyes caught on the gift and curiosity replaced her irritation.

"Yeah, for your birthday. Sorry I was late with it, but it didn't come in the mail as soon as I wanted it to." Albus smiled as Hugo's grin grew and he gave Albus a hug. Rose did not get what was so fantastic about a rock. Hugo had not hugged Rose when she had given him her gift; a potions kit that didn't require a wand. Perfect for practicing basics- Rose had one herself.

"I'm sorry, but what is it? It looks like an over-glorified stone to me." Albus and Hugo looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Seriously sis," Hugo snorted. "Are you really that clueless about quidditch? Albus got me my own snitch, so I could practice and stuff for next year. First years are allowed to play quidditch now, remember?"

Rose groaned. She had forgotten, in her extreme dislike for the sport. There was nothing she detested more than clambering on some deranged broomstick and trusting it not to kill you. She knew most of the rules, as she often referred the family matches, but she simply could not get into the game. She much prefered a soothing game of chess or, if she was feeling particularly adventurous, a game of exploding snap.

"Of course I remember," Rose snapped. "I just haven't ever seen a brand new snitch before. Excuse me for not worshipping the sport like you two do."

"It's okay Rose. You'll make up for your deficiency in quidditch when school rolls around and you have to help everyone with their homework. Are you excited for school to start?" Rose gave her cousin a grateful glance for changing the subject and replied.

"I can't wait for school. But aren't you a little nervous Albus? I mean a lot of things have changed since our parents went to school, and there are all new teachers this year-"

"What do you mean, all new teachers?" A loud, booming voice interrupted. Everyone turned around as James burst into the room and vaulted over the couch. He sprawled out over the loveseat across the coffee table.

Rose rolled her eyes again. Her cousins couldn't have been more unlike each other. James practically oozed self confidence in sickening wave lengths, while poor Albus started to criticize himself the moment someone looked at him too one thing the two did share was an obsessive love for Quidditch, and both enjoyed mooching trivia answers from her.

"Mom was telling me that many of the teachers retired last year-"

"I bet Remlov was fired." James interrupted.

"As I was saying, most of the staff has been replaced. Professor Longbottom will be staying, of course, but-"

"Longbottom stayed? I thought he said he wanted to help his wifey out and start raising rare herbs for St. Mungos."

"James, if you keep interrupting I'm not going to keep talking."

"That's okay, you can stop. I'm pretty sure nobody was listening anyway." James popped a fever fudge into his mouth and Rose fumed. She was about to berate James for his rude behavior but was interrupted.

"You think this will get me out of the dinner party tonight? I want to go hang with Teddy and Victorie." James remarked loftily. Rose opened her mouth to answer, but James noticed Hugo's snitch and was quick to interrupt. Again.

"Wow Hue! You got yourself a snitch! Sweet! Gonna try it out tonight in the family game?"

"Yeah, if Uncle Harry will let me play seeker." Hugo replied, opening the case again to catch another glimpse of his gift. Rose moved to peer over his shoulder at the golden ball, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Remember not to touch it, Hugo. Snitches have-"

"Flesh memories!" The three boys chorused, mimicking Rose's clipped voice. At this Rose managed to crack a little smile.

* * *

It was an hour later when the three boys, accompanied by little Lily Potter, were out testing the new snitch. James had taken the cure for the fever fudge, deciding that some Quidditch with the family never hurt. He was going to take it at a later juncture, probably right after dinner.

Rose and Albus had gone to fetch the brooms from the shed, and the rest had stayed behind to set up the playing field in the large back yard of the Weasley's. James was busy slipping the six rings into the ground, three for each end. Lily was getting the balls from the equipment room from inside the house. They would only need the Quaffle since there was only four of them playing.

"Is the gnome still living in the shed?" Albus asked, wary of the upcoming building.

"Yeah. We can't seem to get him out without hurting him, and my mom would have a fit if we did anything to him. Especially because he hasn't done anything to the garden, and she likes to feed him the leftovers."Rose replied.

"Done anything to the garden!? What about what he does to me? What about when he almost bit my finger off?"

"Well, in his defense, he only attacks you. And, I mean really now, he is more of a permanent resident then you are. So he gets a little more of a say than you do..."

"Rose!" Albus exclaimed, giving her a playful shove. Rose laughed and shoved back and the two stopped when they reached the shed.

"And so it begins," Albus murmured darkly, reaching for the door.

"Let me open it. He likes me because I feed him pumpkin bars in the morning when I let the cat in." Rose motioned Albus away and unlocked the door.

"Wait, you feed the thing?" Albus snorted in disbelief, crossing his arms.

"Oh, come on Albus. Just lend me a hand would you?" The door was so heavy it took both of them to heave it open. Albus looked into the shed warily, waiting for the gnome to leap out at him.

"Kimblo, don't be jumping out now!" Rose called, stepping into the shed before Albus. Albus trailed closely behind her, cursing the fact Rose had actually named the creature.

"You could feed the pumpkin bars to me, you know. No use wasting them on that thing." Albus remarked.

The brooms were removed from the shed without an issue, up until Albus dropped his brooms and struggled to close the door by himself. Quick as lightening, the potato-headed creature appeared at the door and sank his teeth into Albus' calf.

"Bloody hell! Rose do something!"

After a few moments of struggle, the pesky gnome was removed and scurried back into its hole.

"Albus, you are going to want my mom to heal that," Rose remarked, wrapping the bleeding wound with the torn pant leg. She put out her hand to help him up, and he grasped it and pulled himself up. Rose offered her arm to him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

The two hobbled into the house, and Rose noted that he had turned a shade paler than he was earlier. Both of them wandered into the kitchen, where Hermione was preparing for the party later in the the day. When Hermione turned around to ask if they had seen her apron, she dropped the platter she was holding. Bits of glass skittered across the floor from the broken dish, and Kamikazi hissed from her position atop the counter at the noise.

"Albus dear, what happened? Was it that stupid game of Quidditch in the back?" Hermione fussed, swishing her wand to clean up the glass. She brought Albus over to sit at the dining room table so she could inspect the injury. Pus spilled from the bite as Albus sat, and it pooled together and fizzled on the tile.

"The gnome bit you, didn't it?" Hermione supplied when nobody answered her.

"Yeah, mom. It got him bad this time."

"It looks like that gnome has Yethru's Disease. We need to catch him before he infects anyone else, including the other gnomes in the garden. Albus, I'm going to need to brew a potion for you to take, but that is going to take a few hours. In the meantime, you need to lay down. Rose, let Albus sleep in Hugo's bed for a while." Hermione immediately stopped what she was doing in the kitchen and headed down in the basement where she kept the potion supplies.

"I don't want to take a nap!" Albus exclaimed, looking to Rose for assistance.

"You heard her, Albus. You need to rest up or you could get really ill. You don't want to get sick tonight, do you? Right before our big family get together?"

* * *

Albus had put up a pretty good fight before finally submitting to sleep on the couch. Rose made the decision to just leave him there, as she was concerned about waking him up again. He had simply fallen unconscious, and she had the bad feeling that it was a side effect of the infection.

So Rose left her mother a note saying that Albus was on the couch, and proceeded outside to carry the brooms out to the makeshift Quidditch pitch. She could barely hold all of the brooms in her arms, and by the time she reached the pitch, her brother and cousins were lazily waiting for her. Arms feeling like lead, Rose dropped the brooms to the ground. James sprang up from the ground immediately.

"What took so long, pipsqueak? And where's Al?"

"Albus got bit by the gnome, and it got infected. So he is waiting for a potion to make him better. Mom suggested we try to catch-"

"Shoot! That makes our numbers odd. Looks like you have to play, shortstuff. Lily and Hugo versus me and Rose. Sound fair?" Lily and Hugo both high fived in agreement, but Rose paled.

"I'm not going to play! We are supposed to catch the gnome before it bites someone again! I-I can't even fly! And it's Rose and I! _Not _me and Rose!"

"Come on Rosie! Please play with us? We can catch the gnome later!" Lily squeaked.

Rose watched her eager family wait for her response. She felt a deflating feeling in her chest. Sometimes she wished she could hop on a broom and feel safe and exhilarated, like the rest of her family.

"Rose," James said. "We could lower the hoops for you and you could just play on the ground. You can be keeper for us, okay?"

Rod nodded numbly, giving in to her cousins' pleading. At least she wouldn't be flying.

"Okay, let's get this over with."

* * *

The game lasted about an hour, with Rose actually doing pretty well. She made a few saves, and even lobbed the ball down the pitch and made the ball through the hoop. When the game was done (they had played to 300), Rose and James had lost pathetically, but nobody but James seemed to care about the score.

"It's just that I'm a keeper, not a chaser. We would have won otherwise," James kept repeating to the small group as they dismantled the makeshift pitch. Rose and her two cousins cast each other knowing looks; James' overwhelming competitiveness was well known in the family and it was best to let him talk it out.

It took a very short amount of time to get everything cleaned up, and everyone was quick to get inside and make themselves presentable for dinner. Rose felt very awkward in the dress her mother had provided for her, but she knew that in a short amount of time she would get used to it. She smiled at herself in the mirror, then frowned when she realized her hair a mess from playing Quidditch. She had forgotten to ask her Uncle Harry what the spell he had used on her hair was.

She braided her hair quickly, and as she rushed downstairs she could hear a clamour from the roof. _Sounds like the first guest has arrived_, she thought, rushing down the final three flights of stairs to the entryway. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, one that resounded in the kitchen and knocked a plate off the wall. The party was going to start, and the first guest had arrived.

**First chapter done! I apologize for it being sort of all over the place, and being rather slow, but I was trying to get introductions out of the way. I also struggled a little with what scenes I should add, and which I should take away. I am going to attempt to update at least once a week, but I don't have any of this written beforehand(it is outlined) so it may be more. I do have the next chapter started already, so maybe I will update a little sooner.:) Also, I have no idea about wordcount, either. I honestly didn't expect this chapter to get so long, and I am unsure of future chapter lengths. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it!**

**So, tell me what you think, and thank you for reading!**


	2. The Dinner Party

**So, this is the last chapter before Rose finally gets to Hogwarts.:) Next chapter has Diagon Alley, the train ride, and ends with the sorting. (AKA Lots of adventure and meeting people/when this gets interesting.) Hope you didn't mind the wait! I really wanted to build a foundation before I got into the more fast paced stuff. I especially wanted to show some of Rose's relations with her family before she departed for Hogwarts**

**Anyways! Enjoy! And maybe review to tell me what you think?;)**

Upon first glance, the Weasley abode looked like your typical farmhouse on the outskirts of town. If you were brave enough to pass the signs declaring "Private Property-Keep Out!" and "All Trespassers Will be Shot on Sight!", you would find that what at a distance was a quaint and dilapidated farmhouse, was not typical in any way.

The house leaned to the east, corkscrewed by the mismatched floors and house styles stacked together. The building was very tall, containing about seven stories, and did not appear to be architecturally sound. The very top of the house had a colorful array of shingles, decorated by ten crooked lightning rods and a metal rooster that indicated the direction of the wind.

The rooster was very proud, often crowing at odd intervals at night and during the afternoon to keep the residents on their toes. Constant vigilance was the rooster's moto, and the family that dwelled in the peculiar house was very careful about not appearing relaxed within eyesight of the silver bird.

This rooster was very quick to sound the alarm when, to his shock, a mountainous man rode past on a giant motorcycle. Somehow defying the laws of physics, the man had flown past at a considerable speed and landed on the lawn. The bird disapproved of the way he had torn up the grass in his landing, especially when there was a perfectly good driveway to destroy. The tailwind of the giant bike had sent the metallic rooster spinning, but when the bird regained his senses he was quick to screech a warning.

"VIGILANCE! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! THERE IS A STRANGE MAN RIPPING UP THE LAWN IN THE BACK! VIGILANCE!"

The incessant crowing could be heard all the way through the house, down into the basement where a frazzled Hermione had just added the finishing touches to a pale green potion. It fizzed and burped like a carbonated drink.

"WILL SOMEONE SHUT MOODY UP! AND PLEASE LET HAG-"

Hermione was interrupted by a powerful knock at the door. Moody, the bird, began to scream about horses but was ignored. A few picture frames fell off of the wall and sent shards of glass skittering across the floor. Hermione flicked her wand, sending all of the frames back to their respective places on the walls, completely repaired. She shed her dragonhide gloves and charged upstairs to let the man in, feeling panicky. She was not ready for a guest yet.

Rose had beaten her mother to the punch, and the behemoth of a man before her grinned, patting her on the back. He exuded a warm kindness, and his smile spread from ear to ear.

"Good ter see yer, Rosie!" He boomed, almost making Rose fall over with the force behind the friendly gesture. Rose found herself pushed out of the way as her mother gave the man a hug.

"Hagrid! It's been so long- we didn't think you would make it!"

"Course I made it, Hermione! Wouldn't want ter miss out on a good family gatherin' like this one! An I brought an old friend, I 'ope you don't mind."

Rose tried to look past Hagrid, but his bulk filled the entire entryway and then some. There was a sudden shift, and the sound of creaking floorboards as the ceiling rose upwards and the doorway expanded. Hagrid now fit comfortably in the lower floor of the house.

"Thank ya' much, 'Mione. You know 'ow claustraphabic I get nowadays." Rose bit back the impulse to correct Hagrid on his pronunciation. A glance at her mother showed she was doing the same.

"'Agrid? Can ee come een?" Rose watched the color flush out of her mother's cheeks.

"Ah, er, Madame Maxime? Please join us." Hermione growled, shooting Hagrid a condescending look. Hagrid looked bashful and pretended not to notice.

"Ah! 'Ermione! So good to see you! 'Ow did za' trial go last month?" Hermione seemed upset with everything the woman did, but Rose could not figure out why. The giantess had seemed kind enough, but the inquiry on the trial had caused Hermione's fists to clench. In fact, just the Madame's breathing irritated her.

"It did not go…as planned, Madame. We, well, were shot down. It was a one vote difference." Hermione bit out one last sentence as she stormed off to the kitchen. "_If you had come and testified, there would have been indisputable evidence, and we would have won._"

_Oh,_ Rose thought. _That explains her behavior. _She remembered the frantic phone calls and her mothers short temper from the previous month. Hermione had finally gotten enough interest generated in her plan to have an ambassador communicate with the giants and have unplottable land placed aside for them. She had spent numerous nights trying to get someone, she now realized it was the giant Madame in front of her, to come testify and prove that that giants would be willing to communicate. She had ranted about the pride and stubbornness of Madame Maxime at the dinner table, and exploded into a tangent about "big bones" anytime anyone in the family had mentioned either word, despite , the trial came and passed and her mother had finally let it go.

Until now. Rose silently cursed Hagrid for bringing his friend so soon after the trial, but took it upon herself to play gracious host since her mother was ranting in the kitchen.

"Would you two like to come into the living room? We have refreshments and appetizers in the kitchen I can grab for you." Rose hoped she had filled in quick enough to keep the event from becoming awkward.

"Course, Rosie! Lead the way!" Hagrid's rich voice shook the pictures on the wall, and his gesture towards the living room resulted in a hole in the wall he was near. Hagrid made a feeble attempt to cover the watermelon sized orifice with one of the pictures that had fallen to the ground, but Rose stopped him.

"I'll have mom fix it in a jiffy. You guys just go get settled, okay?" The two half-giants nodded their thanks to Rose and made their way towards the special couch Hermione had brought in for Hagrid. Rose felt thankful that there was enough room for both of the abnormally sized people to lounge on it. She was quick to rush into the kitchen and speak with her mom, who was cooking with a ferocity she had never witnessed before.

"Rose, you need to get out of the kitchen or you'll be in the way," Hermione grunted, hacking with a cleaver at something on her cutting board. She seemed to be dealing with a particularly difficult piece of lettuce, one that sparred with her to defend against the blade of her knife.

"Hagrid accidentally elbowed a hole in the wall," Rose poked her head through the door, since she wasn't allowed to enter the room.

"Of course he did. Can you just cover it up for now? I'm not really up to fixing the house up right now."

"We tried, but none of the pictures were large enough-"

"Grab Sir Handleworth from upstairs. That should work."

Rose decided now would be the best time to ask about Albus.

"Mum, is Albus going to be okay?" She inquired.

"Yes, sweetie. He will be fine. He's just very tired at the moment. In fifteen minutes the potion will be done brewing and I can administer it. Until then, let him sleep."

Rose vamoosed to go retrieve the outlandish portrait from upstairs before any more guests could arrive and take note of the quaint depression in the wall. It was not a feat she thought she could do by herself, as the painting was almost as tall as herself and liked to make a fuss whenever anyone came near.

The painting was also located on the fourth floor of the spacious house, which would elevate the difficulties that would arise when moving it. Rose decided she would ask her brother for his assistance, as he got along much better with the painting than she did.

"Hugo," Rose called, knocking on his bedroom door. "Can you come help me with something? Hugo?"

He wasn't answering. Rose cursed under her breath when she realized she would have to ask James for help, since Lily would be a little too small to help move the huge portrait. As if her irritation had called him, James materialized behind her.

"Hey Shortkin. A little birdy told me you would need help moving Sir Handleworth downstairs to entertain the guests? Is he still all the way on the fourth floor?"

"Yeah, he's still on the fourth floor. You can help me?" Rose couldn't believe she hadn't had to convince her irksome cousin to assist her. James noticed her look of disbelief and laughed.

"I _can_ be nice, you know, Rosie. If you would loosen up a bit you wouldn't be so easy to wind up in the first place." James began to ascend the stairs at a quick pace, as the portrait was two floors up.

"Wait up!" Rose exclaimed, skipping steps to keep up with with her much more athletic cousin. By the time she reached her destination, she was utterly exhausted, and extremely out of breath. James chuckled at her lack of stamina.

"Think you can help me carry it, Pipsqueak? Or are you still tired?"

"I'm not tired at all!" Rose cried out, trying to control her breath. A lie for sure, but Rose didn't feel the need to tell him that.

James was actually very helpful in bringing Sir Handleworth downstairs, and even more so when hanging it up in front of the gaping hole in the wall.

Perfect timing, too, because just at that moment a screech rang out from the roof.

"VIGILANCE! MANY RED HAIRED FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE JUST ARRIVED! THEY LOOK SUSPICIOUS, REMEMBER TO-" The bird's voice cut off, and Rose suspected someone had placed a silencing charm. The front door proceeded to burst open as a flow of gabbing gingers entered the house.

Rose greeted all of the Weasley clan who had come to visit, and lead them into the living room to visit with Hagrid and Madame Maxime. At the arrival of the extra guests, new couches grew from the floor, allowing for all of the Weasleys to sit comfortably.

Grandma and Grandpa Weasley were situated comfortably on a leather loveseat that had sprung up from the floor boards. Next to them, Percy, his wife Audrey, and their two children, Molly and Lucy Weasley, were sitting and talking with each other on a couch. Molly, who was going into her third year at Hogwarts, was wearing a sweater decorated with Gryffindor colors and blabbing to anyone who would listen about what she thought this school year was going to be like. George Weasley had dropped in with his wife, Angelina, and both had opted to lean against the back wall and talked to Percy while their two children, Fred and Roxanne, wrestled with each other over something Fred had said.

James burst into the room, and braved sitting on the couch with Fred and Roxanne. It was not long before he had the two in a headlock and was causing an even larger ruckus than the two children. Rose chided him mentally for his immaturity; it was a shame they both looked up to him so much.

"Hello everyone! Glad to see all of you could make it! I wish Harry and Ron could be here, but you know the boys. Life is just one big adventure for them." Hermione welcomed her guests, bringing in plates of appetizers with the assistance of Albus, who still looked pale. At least her mother didn't appear incensed anymore.

_Good thing she remembered to move him from the couch before the guests arrived._ Rose thought, sinking into a seat that was currently empty and motioning for Albus to sit next to her. He handed off the platter to James, who used the food to quell Fred and Roxanne's whirlwind of activity.

"Feeling a little better?" She asked.

"Not particularly. I still feel like I could pass out at any moment." Albus moaned,laying his head on the back of the couch.

"Hopefully you will feel better by the time the Quidditch match starts!" Rose attempted to make Albus feel better, but instead of getting excited, he deflated.

"Aunt Hermione says no exercise tonight, so I will be recovered by tomorrow. Since, you know, we are getting school supplies."

"Oh," Rose said. "Well, I'm sorry about the whole gnome thing, I didn't realize he was going to bite you so hard this time."

Albus grunted in response, then got up and rushed down the hallway. Rose winced when she heard the bathroom door shut. Looks like he still felt pretty ill.

"Hey Rose! Excited for school to start?" Molly seated herself next to Rose.

"Er, yeah! I can't wait. You?" Rose replied.

"Yes! When you get sorted into Gryffindor I will have to introduce you to everyone! And we have a bunch of new teachers this year, too, so that is super exciting! It's too bad we don't have Remlov anymore, though, he was such a babe. I'm pretty sure I didn't get anything done during potions with him teaching. It's too bad they couldn't get rid of Professor Binns. He's just about as old as dust and he is booooring. I don't know whose great idea it was to have a ghost teach, but surely they could have at least picked one that was interesting? Like Nearly Headless Nick! He's cool! Or the Fat Friar…" Molly continued to blab incessantly about school, and Rose began to only hear bits and pieces of the one sided conversation.

"-and then there was this girl, Kaelia, who tried to-"

"I hated him! He was just so, bleh? You know?"

"Yeah, totally. What a jerk," Rose droned back in response. Molly continued her monologue.

"-not very smart, but really nice-"

"-when we broke up. But he was so nice that-"

"-like a cult or something? You know?"

"Yeah, weird!" Rose replied.

"-sure your robes look good on you. You don't want to look like Lara Bines."

"Thanks for the solid advice, Molly. I'm going to go see if Albus is okay, alright?" Rose excused herself, getting up to go make sure Albus was still alive.

"Albus?" Rose knocked on the door of the first floor bathroom. "Albus, are you alright?"

The door creaked open, and Albus stood before her, face pale and covered in sweat and smelling acidic.

"I'm okay, Rose. Aunt Hermy said this would happen. I'll be better by tomorrow." The door shut again before Rose could get a word in. She bit her lip in thought, and flitted over to ask her mother about her cousin's ailments, in case he was lying.

"He's fine, Rosie. He just needs some rest." Hermione replied, shooing Rose away and telling her to enjoy her time with her other cousins.

The evening leading up to the dinner was enjoyable once Rose let herself relax. She had decided to take James' advice on taking a metaphorical chill pill, and was thanking herself for it. She actually made herself listen to a half an hour of Molly's boy problems, and played a close game of wizarding chess with James, before the whole family gamboled out for the family quidditch match. Hugo used, and caught, his brand new snitch, which won the game for his team. Rose couldn't help feeling a little proud as her little brother waved the golden ball in triumph.

More family arrived as the night wore on, and by the time supper came around, there almost wasn't enough room to fit everyone around the table. Everyone had brought food, from the wizarding favorite of jarvey liver casserole, to the more exotic muggle meal of macaroni and cheese.

Everyone ate until they were ill, and then proceeded to rush outside to play another game of quidditch. Rose stayed inside with her mother to help clean up, as dinner had left everything a mess, and she didn't want to just watch the quidditch match. A small part of her wished she could fly, but her common sense laughed at the wish.

"Rose, you don't need to help. All I have to do is raise my wand and the room is clean. Go outside and enjoy yourself," Hermione dismissed Rose, and true to her word flicked her wand. The dishes began to do themselves and a washcloth rose from the sink and scrubbed the table down.

Rose skulked outside, and sat with her grandparents next to the makeshift pitch. Grandma Granger was having difficulties remembering how the game was played, and Grandpa Weasley was explaining the rules to her. The Granger grandparents were always forgetting, and they couldn't seem to remember any of the grandchildren's names.

"Jasmine, could you be a dear and bring your grandmother a nice cup of that pumpkin juice?" Grandma Granger hollered. Rose, who was sitting right next to her, agreed and wended inside.

As Rose was pouring her grandmother's cup of juice, a sharp noise made her jump, spilling the drink everywhere. Pumpkin juice dribbled off of the counter and onto the kitchen tile. Whipping around towards the sound, Rose placed the cup and the juice on the counter.

An owl was knocking feverishly on the window, swooping and clawing at the frame. She recognized it as her father's owl, Malloy, and rushed over, unlatching the lock. The owl swished inside with an air of grace, and landed on the counter. It pecked impatiently at the marble.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming Malloy." Rose hissed, closing the window and taking a note from the large barn owl. It was addressed to her mother, who had just gone outside to watch the game. The owl hooted furiously, and Rose took it as a hint that the mail should be delivered with haste.

Rose sprinted outside with the fluttering piece of paper and handed it to her mother. There was a silent moment of concentration as Hermione read the note, and the longer she read, the more stern her face became. Her mother's behavior made Rose feel nervous, but for what she couldn't say.

Hermione lifted her head from her reading, and turned to murmur orders to Rose.

"Rosie, sweetie. I have to go, but your Aunt Gin will be staying over and watching you tonight. Behave, and make sure Hugo goes to bed at a decent time. Don't let James sneak out with Victorie and Teddy, I know he wants to,but those two are a little older than him and Ginny doesn't want him going to any parties right now. Albus needs to take one more dose of his potion, give him a cup and a half and he should be good." Hermione took a breath, kissed Rose on the forehead, and continued,"Goodnight dear, I'll be back in the morning to take you shopping!"

**So please excuse me trying to write accents and Hagrid. Just wait until you hear my house elves.(cringe) Should be ready with next chapter in **_**about**_ **a week's time again. Thanks for reading!:)**


	3. The Sorting

It was the next morning, and Rose did her usual morning routine. The cat burst into the kitchen and broke something expensive, Rose fixed it, and her sleepy brother asked her to make him fried eggs with bacon. She complied, and now found herself staring sleepily at the skillet in front of her, eggs sizzling and bacon popping.

Her thoughts wandered to the previous evening, specifically, when her mother had left the party in an uncharacteristic rush. Ginny had stayed behind to watch all of the children, and the cousin's got to have a well-needed sleepover. There was popcorn, muggle movies, and lots of sleeping bags. James had not tried to sneak out, to Aunt Gin's joy, and decided, once again, that a little family time never hurt anybody.

Rose kept seeing glimpses of her mother's expression, small words she had seen scrawled on the back of the flimsy piece of paper, and the general urgency the entire night seemed to have been shrouded in. While the night had been fun, Rose wished her father could have been there, and that they had told stories last night, like they did every year.

Every year but this year.

The year seemed full of firsts, that was for sure.

"Rosie, your mother just owled in. She can't come school shopping with us, I'm afraid. They are still needed at the Ministry." Aunt Gin waddled in, still in her night clothes and looking stiff as a board. She still suffered from back and muscle pains after playing professional quidditch in her younger years.

"Really? What are they doing?" Rose asked, curious as to why her parents had to be absent.

"I'm not entirely sure. Harry said he couldn't tell me until it was dealt with properly. Poor dears, I wonder if they got any sleep last night? I bet Hermione didn't, bless her soul she..."

"So we are going to Diagon Alley without them?" Hugo had wandered into the kitchen as well, and unknowingly interrupted Aunt Gin.

"Yes, considering school starts so soon. Your parents wanted to get the shopping done now, so there would be time to go back and get anything that was missed. I can finish breakfast for you, Rose, go get yourself ready to go and then come down and eat."

Diagon Alley was bustling with activity, full of last minute shoppers who were trying to acquire last minute school supplies. Shopkeepers were hawking off the last of their back to school merchandise, and shifty street vendors were pushing Self-Spelling-Quills, Self-Answering Inks, and Instantaneous-Essays to mischievous teens.

While the family navigated through the throng, a young man with sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes ran straight into Rose, almost knocking her over. He looked up from the book he had been reading, a lengthy looking thing about potions theory, and smiled. He quickly and energetically gave an apology and continued to walk down the street. He had slipped his small book into a leather bag slung over his shoulder, and disappeared into an alley down the street before another word could be said.

"Doesn't he look familiar?" Aunt Gin asked the kids, furrowing her brow. They all disagreed, and she murmured to herself in response. She seemed to know him from somewhere.

"Can we get our wands first?" Albus asked, indicating towards Ollivander's. He was shaking with excitement, the wand was the thing he had wanted to get most. Rose had been looking forward to purchasing her new textbooks, but she knew Albus wouldn't want to wait around in the stuffy Flourish and Blotts.

"Oh! Of course. I'll go get all of the boring stuff while you are getting matched." Ginny told the two, shooing them away. Ollivander's was just down the street, and nobody else seemed to be stopping in. Rose was glad it wouldn't take long.

The two wandered into Ollivander's with caution, as the towering boxes of wands and crooked shelves all felt unstable. Dust permeated everything, and could be seen floating in the air in the limited shafts of light that came through the grimy windows. Rose was fairly certain she had heard the squeak of a mouse, and watched her feet carefully in case one decided to scamper across her toes.

"Bit of a mess in here, isn't it?" Albus whispered to her. The two searched for the man who ran the store, without much luck until they reached the very back of the building.

They found someone laying halfway underneath a large wooden desk, and they appeared to be struggling to fix something with muggle tools. The man heard footsteps and bolted upwards, hitting his head soundly on the thick oak and cursed unintelligibly under his breath. He looked very young for a wandmaker, almost as if he was fresh out of school.

"Welcome to Ollivanders!" The man tried to sound energetic, but his voice came out more like a groan. He massaged his head with a prominent wince and continued. " I assume you two are in want of a wand? Let me fetch my grandfather, and we can get started."

The gangly man with dark hair staggered into a back room and could be heard speaking loudly with someone.

"Oy! Get up! There are new customers out there! They need our help!"

There was a loud and croaking response.

"WHAT?"

"I said, there are customers out here waiting for you!"

"WHAT?"

"CUSTOMERS!"

"DON'T THEY KNOW ABOUT SIESTA?"

"Grandpa! Just come out here!"

"TELL THEM TO COME BACK WHEN SIESTA IS OVER!"

There were the telling sounds of a scuffle, and eventually the gangly man and his grandfather emerged from the back room. The older man, presumably the elder Ollivander, was skeletal thin and had a pale, gaunt face. His simple suit looked as if he had not bought anything new within the last twenty years, and Rose strongly suspected that this was the case.

A quavering hand reached out in a welcome handshake as the older man spoke much louder than necessary. Despite having just put up a fight to join them, he behaved amiably and acted as if he had not just tried to kick them out.

"Hello, young Miss and Mr. How may I assist you? May I ask your names?"

"My name's Rose, and this is my cousin Albus. We're here to get our very first wands, sir."

"Ahh, Rose Weasley and Albus Potter, am I correct? I remember selling all four of your parents their wands. Your father," The elderly man indicated with a shaky finger at Albus. "Was an interesting case. Lets see what you two get, hmm?"

Ollivander Sr hobbled towards a wavering stack of wands, and indicated towards one that was teetering on the top of the pile. The younger Ollivander groaned, lugged a step ladder up to the pile, and precariously reached for the box. He handed it off to the older man, who gave it to Albus.

"Birch, 10 inches, dragon heartstring. Try it out now; give it a flick."

Albus flourished the wand, there was a resonating crack, and the entire front window splintered and fell to the ground in a pile of shards. Ollivander Sr chuckled, and waved his wand. The glass reassembled itself into the window pane, looking considerably cleaner than before. Additional light bathed the room in a warm yellow, making the place look less foreboding than it had earlier.

"Nope, that won't work. Gilgory, your turn." Ollivander Sr said. The gangly man, Gilgory, rushed off to a back shelf, and could be heard rustling around. Ollivander Sr beamed with pride, like a grandfather who had just watched his grandson catch the game winning snitch.

"He's a natural, just like I was when I was his age." The elderly man boasted. "Very good mind and memory, already remembers all the sales he has made with me. I was so glad when he told me five years ago he wanted to apprentice under the family business, as his father never showed any interest in wandlore. I'm simply too old for this anymore, if you understand. If someone hadn't come to apprentice with me, some foreigner would have taken over the market here!

"Anyways, he's so efficient, if he doesn't get you on the first try he almost certainly will get you on the second, just watch. Oh, here he comes! That's my grandson! What did you bring, boy?"

"Pear, 12 inches, with unicorn hair. Judging by the reaction of the first wand, this should fit like a glove. I will have you know a pear wand hasn't sold here in _years_!" Gilgory handed the black box to Albus, who eagerly took it out and waved it. Green sparks burst from the end of the wand, and the two wand eccentrics gave a triumphant cheer.

Albus grinned at Rose, and showed her his newly procured wand. It was simple in make, no extra embellishments or carvings. Just a differentiation between the handle and the rest of the wand, and the rest was smooth pear wood. Even in appearance it seemed to fit him well, and it only took him a few moments before he had swiped it back from Rose and was whispering to it.

Rose gave a snort of laughter at her cousin's peculiar behavior, which had been spurred on by her father telling them that talking to your wand made it work better. Rose doubted this theory, though her father swore by it and Albus had gobbled it up.

Gilgory and Ollivander Sr both were conversing about Rose's wand, and both agreed upon one made out of Hawthorn. When she went to wave it, flames erupted from the end, and they both shook their heads at her.

" I knew that one wouldn't like her, she is obviously very set in her values and opinions." Ollivander Sr said. Gilgory nodded in agreement. He handed her another wand, this one made of rowan. Gilgory insisted it wouldn't work, but Ollivander ignored him saying,

"You are the apprentice here, remember? We need to see something when we hand her the rowan. Obviously it isn't going to choose _her_."

Rose bristled a little at the comment, not sure what he meant. _Am I not good enough for that wand?_ She thought bitterly.

"Oh, of course. I forgot." Gilgory apologised, looking embarrassed, as if he had forgotten something important.

Rose hardly even moved the wand before a pile of wand boxes spilled over in the aisle. Ollivander Sr told her to wave it again, in the event that it was a fluke. His reasoning was that the tower of boxes had not looked very stable in the first place, and the wand may not have done anything of its own accord. Another flick of the wand, and the pile of boxes reassembled itself nicely and in alphabetical order by wood.

Olivander Sr seemed pleased with the wand, as he thanked it before returning it to its box. He also looked relieved that the wand had been the cause of the stack toppling over.

"Interesting!" He murmured. His eyes flicked over to Rose with bright curiosity before he hobbled over to a small pile of boxes strewn across his desk. He plucked an ornate box up from the pile and handed it to Rose carefully.

"Grandfather, you're a genius! The hazel with phoenix feather core! 10 ½ inches!" Gilgory exclaimed, now looking as if Christmas had come a year early.

Rose gave the wand a dramatic wave, and brilliant blue sparks shot from the end. She smiled at Albus, who gave her a thumbs up. The two wizards, master and apprentice, gave an excited yelp.

"Oh! Let me show you what it does!" Gilgory exclaimed, grabbing Rose by the wrist and dragging her out the back door of the store. Albus helped Ollivander Sr hobble outside to join them. The alleyway behind the rows of shops was dank and dark in comparison to the rest of Diagon Alley, but she stopped thinking about it when she saw what the wand was doing.

Gilgory was standing on a depression in the ground, and the wand was emitting smoke from the tip in the shape of silvery tear drops. Both of the Ollivander kinsfolk were grinning from ear to ear, and Rose blinked.

"Er, what is it doing?" She asked as her wand was returned to her. Olivander Sr replied.

"You have a special kind of wand, Miss Rose. Hazel wands are well known in the wand making world for smoking above hidden sources of water, in this case an old well that has been out of commission since the eighteen hundreds. If you ever need to find clean drinking water for whatever reason, that wand will be a life saver. It puffs even in the hands of non-magical users, so if you ever find yourself without magic, at least you can make a living water witching."

Rose blinked, taking in the strange information. Albus broke her concentration by exclaiming,

"Wow, Rose! That's awesome! Can I try?"

Rose handed over the wand, and Albus rushed to stand over the old well. Puffs of smoke wafted out of the end of the wand. Rose giggled at the amazed expression on Albus' face, and took the wand back.

The two were ushered back into the store just in time to see Aunt Gin arrive with the rest of the gang. James was talking to a blonde, pretty girl who seemed to be taking up all of his attention, and Ginny kept sending menacing glares towards her. Lily raced up in excitement, inspecting the wands and whining about not being able to get one herself. Hugo, who tried to act a little calmer than Lily, eventually gave in and drooled over the wands as well.

The wands were paid for, and they all departed from the store without any shopping left to do, as Aunt Gin had bought everything else off the lists, and Rose would be coming in with her mother in two days to get Rose's owl. Rose still wished she could just bring a kneazle, or even a plain cat.

In the days that passed, Rose couldn't help picking up her wand at odd intervals of the day and toying with it in her hands, inspecting every inch. She even occasionally spoke with the wand, in the event her father was right and wands responded to conversation.

Eventually, in what felt like forever, the day to go to King's Cross arrived.

Rose said goodbye to her relatives at Platform 9 and ¾, and found herself in a cramped compartment with James, a lot of James' friends, Albus, and herself. In hindsight, she wished Albus and herself had snagged their own compartment when the train was still loading.

James excused himself to go speak with someone, Rose had a sneaking suspicion it was the girl she had seen at Diagon Alley, and left. There was a breath of relief from everyone, now that there was enough space to breathe.

Three of James' friends had crammed themselves into the compartment. The first was a loud, darker colored boy who went by the nickname Jorge. He pronounced it the Spanish way, putting special emphasis on the 'whore' in 'Horhe'. The second was a pale, moon faced boy called Jeremy. The last boy was a childhood friend that even Rose knew, Lyle Jordan.

As Albus talked with James' friends, Rose thought about what her father had told her on the train station, albeit in humour. He had asked her to beat the small blonde in all of her classes, and though he _had_ said he was joking, Rose's intuition said otherwise. She wondered who the boy was, and just how hard it would be to fulfill her father's wish.

Her thoughts were broken when one of James' friends asked for her name again, to which Rose replied with a laugh. Though three or four years older than herself, she found she wasn't intimidated by the boys at all. In fact, there was something ridiculously friendly about them, and she hoped it helped Albus feel better.

The kids talked and joked, all except Albus, who now looked like he was on the verge of throwing up. James arrived maybe thirty minutes later, talking loudly and being the boisterous boy he was. Rose felt suffocated; the room was simply too small with the energetic James pulsating energy.

He suddenly quit talking, as if in thought. James, who seemed to have just realized that there was way too many people in the compartment, made an executive decision.

"Listen, one of you two pipsqueaks should move. Since, you know, I'm older and these guys are actually my friends." James looked over at Rose, and she took the hint.

She should go.

It wasn't anything personal, it was just that Albus was an emotional wreck at the moment,and if he had to go share a cart with a bunch of people he didn't know he probably would have a panic attack. Rose on the other hand, was fairly good with newer people, and much easier to guilt trip into leaving.

Rose stood at precisely the same time Albus did. She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back onto the seat, to the mirth of the boys in the cart, shaking her head.

"Albus. You just stay here and relax a little, okay? I'll go and meet some new friends for us." The look on Albus' face made the whole the entire move worth it. He mouthed a thank you to her as she left, and the action made her feel glad she had made the decision to leave.

Rose wandered around for a considerable amount of time before she realized there was only one compartment left in their section of the train that she hadn't yet checked. Nerves gnawed at her gut, and she tried to ignore them as she approached the door.

She rolled the door open and peeked inside. To her surprise there was only one boy inside, sprawled languidly across the seat and reading intently. His face was completely hidden by a large book that seemed to be in a foreign language, and he was already changed into his robes like she was. His voice drawled out at her from underneath the tome.

"Can I help you?" Rose winced at the cool reception, but ventured inside anyways. She slid the door shut, hoping the person would warm up after a couple of minutes.

"I just needed somewhere to sit. Is it okay if I join you?" The boy didn't reply at first, but then shot out a response. He still hadn't bothered to lower the impressive volume from his face.

"The train has been moving for a considerable amount of time now. Are you really telling me there isn't _one_ other place you could be other than here? Obviously you must have been _somewhere _all that time_._"

Rose resembled a fish the way her mouth opened and closed in disbelief. She found she couldn't will herself to say anything in reply.

"Are you going to say something, or do I actually have to look at you? Because I am trying to finish this chapter before we arrive at Hogwarts,and this conversation is wasting a lot of precious time. There isn't going to be a moment to spare for leisurely reading once our classes begin, you know, my father told me so."

"Excuse me!" Rose exclaimed, situating herself right across from him in defiance. The boy lowered the book enough so that she could actually see from his eyes up. She took a sharp breath.

It was the boy. The one her father had very explicitly told to beat in all of her classes. He was wearing a pair of reading glasses now, ones that made his silver eyes appear a size too big. His hair was so blonde that it looked white in the lighting of the train. It was extremely mussed up from laying haphazardly on on the seat. His appearance would have been humourous if he wasn't staring daggers at her.

"I'm sorry, what do you what again? I seem to have forgotten after your little outburst there. Do you always act like that when you first meet people? Is that why you are still trying to sit in here? You must have exhausted all of your other options."

"No! I was sitting very happily with my cousins when one came back from talking with someone and I decided to leave because there wasn't enough room."

"Oh. Your poor family didn't even want them with you anymore? Tell me, do you screech more or less when around them? I can't seem-"

"You shush! I'm sitting here! And I will read very quietly! So if you could just move some of your stuff off of this seat so I can sit here more comfortably I would be very thankful!" Rose's voice was quavering in anger, and a smattering of self doubt. She wasn't really that annoying, was she?

"Oh, but of course! How daft of me, I _do_ apologize. All you had to do was ask. Here," The boy used one hand to spill all of his stuff onto the ground into a haphazard mess. Rose would have been impressed by his sudden pleasantries if he hadn't just acted so rudely.

Wearily she sat down; she felt like she had put more effort into sitting than she should have. Rose cringed when the boy's voice rang out from behind his book.

"If I may ask, who are you? My reading glasses impair my vision so I'm afraid I cannot see much past my arms."

Rose paused for a moment. Was he being nice now? Maybe if he knew who she was he wouldn't have been so defensive. She opened her mouth to reply, but the boy spoke before she had the chance.

"No- dont tell me. I bet I can guess. Red hair and a severe lack of manners _and_ common sense. You must be a _Weasley."_ The boy actually bothered to place a bookmark in his ridiculous reading material and lowered it to his lap. Rose was about to reply when he continued. "Wait, I'm not done yet. Judging by the fact you were planning on coming in here and _reading_, I can assume you are Rose Weasley, daughter of Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Curious, do _you_ know why your mother still goes by her maiden name after approximately 16 years of marriage?"

"Listen." Rose pleaded,not knowing the answer to his question and feeling put down. " I don't know why you don't like me, and I'm sorry about whatever I did to offend you so badly. But please, I don't have anywhere else to sit and I really just want to mentally prepare myself for the sorting. We don't have to talk to each other ever again. Just. Let. Me. Sit. Here."

The boy didn't say anything, but cocked his head and gazed at her with a strange expression on his face. He moved his glasses to the top of his head so as to see her better. Rose felt like he was scrutinizing her, and she pulled her blanket out of her bag and covered herself up.

"Interesting." He murmured under his breath. Rose gave a small sigh and pulled out Luna's guide to salamanders to hide her face. She had a feeling that this would be a long ride.

"Trolley! Trolley coming through! Pick your poison! Licorice wands, everyflavored beans, and chocolate frogs, just to name a few!"

Rose was startled out of a sleep that had actually been rather pleasant. After her bitter outburst the strange boy had not bothered her in the slightest, in fact, he almost seemed cordial.

Or, as cordial as you can get while completely ignoring someone.

"Trolley!"

The sound was getting closer, and the rumble in her stomach told her to make a purchase. She shuffed around in her bag for her money and withdrew it just in time for the cart filled with confections.

"Are you really going to buy something?"

Once again Rose was startled, and whipped around to address the drawling voice.

"Er, yes? Did you, um, want something?" She waited for a barbed response.

"No, I don't want something. I was going to say you shouldn't waste your money."

"Why would I be wasting my money?"

"I have perfectly good food right here with me, for the train ride. If you were so inclined."

Rose just nodded in response, unable to figure out if the kid was being kind or fooling her. She hoped that he wasn't just making her miss out on the trolley.

Her fears were assuaged when he immediately hopped up to pull one of his many bags down. She noticed that he was incredibly short, as he was struggling to reach, despite standing on the seat. He rummaged around, and then came up with an impressive looking wooden box. He handed her a bar of chocolate wrapped in foil and covered in intricate, moving designs.

"You'll never have chocolate as good as this; my father owns several chocolatier companies all over in South America. We call this specific line 'Malfoy Meltaways.'"

Once again hoping the whole thing wasn't a prank, she bit into the bar. It was disgusting, but Rose was fairly sure that was because the chocolate was a dark black instead of a chocolate brown.

"Er, yeah. Delicious!" She choked out.

"Liar. Not a fan of dark chocolate then?"

"No, sorry."

He rolled his eyes at her reply.

"Fine, here's some milk chocolate of the same variety. I figured being a Weasley you would be more sophisticated when it came to food, especially considering the joint annual income of your parents. My mistake, not everyone can be as refined as the Malfoys."

Rose forgot to accost him about knowing what their annual income was when she took a bite of the chocolate. It was heavenly; rich, sweet, and it melted in her mouth just a little slower than cotton candy.

"Merlin, this is delicious! Is that entire box full of chocolate?"

The pale boy gave her a condescending look, for what Rose couldn't figure out.

"What a pity you don't like _real_ chocolate. And no, there are many different things my father packed for me, but there is plenty of chocolate included."

He had sat back down, packed away his confections, and was starting to reach for his book again. Rose scrambled for an excuse to talk more; it annoyed her to no end that the boy seemed to be too good to speak with her. It irritated her even more that the boy refused to even give her a chance to prove him wrong, though wrong about what she couldn't exactly say..

"Er, so what house do you want to be in?" She blurted out.

"How sheltered are you? I've only mentioned my family name multiple times in our conversations, not to mention my startling resemblance to my father; surely you already know the answer to that question?"

Family name...Father? Rose hated to admit it, but she was clueless. She winced when he let out an angry huff began to speak very slowly, as if to a child.

"I'm Scorpius _Malfoy_. My family, the _Malfoys_, have only been in _Slytherin_ since the founding of _Hogwarts_, but maybe I'll somehow land myself in _Gryffindo_r. Wouldn't my father be _proud._"

"Oh, does your da' want you to be in Gryffindor then? That's cool! The family rebel, right?" Rose joked, trying to relieve some of the tension between the two. She had always been lame with humour, but maybe Scorpius was as socially inept as she was, and would find it somewhat amusing.

The look she received could have made hell freeze over, and his silvery eyes bore down on her in a way that made her eternally grateful that looks couldn't kill. She was terrified, and her thoughts whirled about a mile a minute. _Is he going to yell at me? Goodness! I was only trying to be friendly! Was I that bad at trying to be funny?_

Finally the boy facepalmed with an exaggerated sigh, and spat out,

"_Don't_ talk to me anymore. I don't know how I've tolerated your obnoxious presence this long, but I really don't want to any longer. To put it like the muggles, _I can't even right now_. And if I got sorted into Gryffindor _or_ Hufflepuff, to satisfy your nosy curiosity, I would walk straight out of Hogwarts and board the next train home."

Scorpius didn't wait for a reply and brought his book up to his face. That was that, then.

The rest of the train ride was a irritated silence. Rose was exceedingly relieved when the train pulled to a croaking stop in Hogsmeade; she hurried about gathering her bags and left without a word of goodbye. Scorpius didn't even seem to notice, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would not have to be concerned about getting sorted into any house but Slytherin with that sort of attitude.

"Hagrid!" Rose exclaimed, running up to give the mountainous man a hug.

"Oy, Miss Rosie I'm a teacher now. Can't go showin' favoritism or anythin'. You an' Albus make some time teh come an' see me later. We can 'ave tea 'an biscuts 'an yeh kin tell me abou' yer day! I did get you an' Albus gifts, slip them inter yer robes and wait until you've bin sorted. I 'ave ter call the firs' years, so you can jus' stay here." Hagrid handed a small box to Rose, and proceeded to bellow,"FIRS' YEARS! FIRS' YEARS THIS WAY!"

The crowd assembled quickly around Hagrid, who dwarfed even the tallest first year. Rose could hear the shocked murmurs of a few students when they took note of his height and size. One boy, she assumed he was a muggleborn, fainted. Hagrid gave a hearty chuckle and picked the kid up like a sack of potatoes, slinging him over his shoulder with startling ease.

"Foller me an' I'll lead ya' to the boats. Remember- only four to a boat!" He shouted. The students obediently followed him down to the boatyard, and there was a collective gasp as they gazed across the lake. There stood an impressive castle, one that defied laws of science and looked ancient. In a word, Hogwarts. Rose had never seen Hogwarts, and the surprise made her stare across the water dreamily.

"Pleny of time ter stare later! Lets load up an' cross, shall we?" Hagrid boomed, herding the first group of kids towards a small rowboat.

Rose was glad to be back in the company of her cousin, Albus. He seemed to be a sickly shade of white, and she hoped he didn't have a panic attack while they crossed. There were two other kids who had joined them- a tall, wiry girl with glasses that made her resemble an insect, and a extremely short, but not shorter than Scorpius, boy with dark hair.

Albus broke the silence by smiling at the two and asking them who they were. The girl answered in an airy, lilting voice.

"I'm Lyra Sybil Trelawny. I live with my mother just north of London. My grandmother used to teach here."

The boy replied in a gruff voice.

"Name's Samuel. I don't like being called Sam or Sammy, so don't try. London. I, er, didn't used to be magical? " Rose understood the question he was asking, and replied.

"Okay, so that would make you a Muggleborn, then? My mother was a muggleborn, so I'm half and half. My name is Rose Weasley, by the way. And this is my cousin, Albus Potter."

"Potter?" Lyra squeaked. "Like, Harry Potter's son?"

Albus looked uncomfortable, and in hindsight Rose wished she wouldn't have mentioned the last name.

"Er, yeah. He's my pa. And, I'm guessing Professor Trelawny was your grandmother?"

"Yeah. She's certainly gotten batty the last few years, though, her predictions keep getting crazier and crazier! She told me that I was going to get sorted into two houses, but that I would have to take classes with a third, and play quidditch with the last. I don't even like quidditch! Let alone the impossibility of being sorted into two houses."

They all had a good laugh, except for the poor Samuel boy, who looked clueless. Lyra elaborated for him.

"My grandmother used to be a decent seer, not completely reliable, but she had a few good visions. You know, telling the future. Fortunes and the like."

The boy's mouth flew open in disbelief.

"That's real? You can do that?"

"You have to be born with it," Rose replied, eyeing the shoreline that was only visible because of the glowing moon above. About half of the students had reached shore and were waiting for the rest of their classmates to land as well. Hagrid was drying off a poor boy who had fallen off of their boat and was rescued by the giant squid. It was, coincidentally, the same boy who had passed out.

"There is a giant squid, too?" Samuel asked, leaning over the edge of the boat to try and catch a glimpse. Rose laughed.

"Yeah, and if you keep leaning over the edge like that I bet you will have a chance to meet him."

He scurried back from the side of the boat, almost throwing himself off the other side in the process. This earned some giggling from the others in the boat. Rose was relieved to see Albus enjoying himself. They landed with a soft thump! on the fine sand of the shore, and Albus and Samuel immediately hopped out to drag the boat further up out of the water.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lyra, Samuel. Perhaps we will be in the same house!" Rose chattered. Albus gave his own farewell with similar sentiments, and they joined the growing line of kids.

"Sorry if ye' get sand in yer shoes." Hagrid called. He motioned for the children to follow him down a narrow path that lead towards a cliff with ivy hanging over it. He pointed at it as he spoke. "Normally we use the docks over there, 'neath that ivy. But we had a nasty incident with a freshwater kelpie this morning, and it did some damage, so we couldn't use it today. Staff said it cursed th' place. We didn't have time today to fix it, what with all of yer coming."

The path lead down into the cliff, where Hagrid lead them past the destroyed docks to a portrait of a man. A few of the muggleborn children gave little gasps when he began to talk.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! The name is Percival had to take me down for a long time, and the kids had to walk all the way through the dungeons to the Grand Staircase to await sorting. A shame, really, and I'm very glad to be back in service this year, finally!"

The painting sounded like it wanted to talk more, but Hagrid gave an impatient huff. Percival Pratt took a hint, and swung open to reveal a passageway. Rose could still hear Percival telling kids to come visit, if they felt so inclined. She imagined it was lonely being the only painting down by the docks.

The followed the passageway within all the way to a colossal pair of oak against them was a woman with hair that was beyond black, so black it almost seem to suck the light from around it.

She swept her mesmerizing hair away from her face to expose pale, unblemished skin and dark green eyes. She was at the same time beautiful and terrifying, and Rose could see some students exchanging wary looks.

"Miss Goshawk! Pleasure ta' see ya! Ready ter take 'em to get sorted?" Hagrid even seemed a little put off by the radiant woman.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I believe I can manage from here on. You can go find your seat in the Great Hall, and we will be there shortly." She dismissed, with much more authority than Rose thought she actually possessed.

"Students, follow me. A word of warning before we proceed- Peeves has once again not been invited to the welcoming banquet. He may try to, ah, how to put it, haze you on our way there. Please try to ignore him, even if he drops or pours something on you. If you believe you require medical attention, just tell me when we reach our destination." Albus tugged on Rose's sleeve and gave her an exasperated look. _Who's Peeves? _He mouthed to her. Rose shrugged- their parents had never mentioned a Peeves to them.

The students followed Professor Goshawk very closely, terrified that Peeves may show up and drop something on them. The entrance hall was more than impressive, it could have easily fit a house, and it was illuminated by the dull flicker of torches on the walls. A gigantic marble staircase branched off to many other staircases. These staircases varied in size, style, and even building material. Some staircases moved from place to place, others disappeared right before your eyes and reappeared seconds later in a different position.

The hum of hundreds of voices called to Rose from behind a doorway to her right. Professor Goshawk herded them away from this door and instead lead them to an empty chamber off the hall. It was cosy, and nerves made the crowd press together tighter than they normally would.

"I would like to welcome all of you to Hogwarts," Professor Goshawk began, her steely voice echoing in the chamber. "In a matter of moments you will be joining the school for the start of term banquet. I would like you to take a few moments to remember exactly how you feel in this moment- you will never have another experience quite like it. Now, before you can join the rest of the school, as some of you may already know, we need to sort…"

Rose, without realizing it, began to daydream about the sorting. She thought of herself proudly adorned in the reds and golds of Gryffindor. The muted blues and blacks of Ravenclaw called to her as well, as she was sure she would love either house. For a small moment she even considered Slytherin, only if Albus was sorted there, of course, and pretended to be cloaked in rich greens embellished with silver.

In her daydream, a fight broke out between a faceless Slytherin and faceless Gryffindor, and she valiantly dove in to stop it. She gave a moving speech about house unity, and the two realised they were not so different after all. In fact, they are quick to become best friends after they-

"Wait here quietly until I return, and then I will bring you out to the sorting," Professor Goshawk instructed, leaving in a flourish of robes.

Hushed conversations fluttered throughout the students. Rose was quick to realize that she must have missed something important, because all of the children were discussing it. Albus was speaking to an cute, but slightly overweight, girl who was standing next to him. While Rose pretended to listen in to their conversation, she actually listened in to the group of kids on her other side. Most were leaning against the wall, though a few were comfortable sitting on the ground. They all already looked like they knew each other, and Scorpius was leaning lazily against the wall with them.

"But how, exactly, are we sorted?" A boy with spiky hair asked, plucking dirt off of his robes and flicking it onto a girl next to him. She squealed in disgust.

"You have to tame a kelpie. My brother told me so," A girl with long, lovely hair replied.

"No you don't, they pick and choose you, like deciding teams for quidditch. I heard whoever doesn't get picked goes to Hufflepuff." A dark, handsome boy snorted, not looking particularly worried about anything. The Hufflepuff comment warranted a few chuckles from the group.

"Are you all daft? Why would they bother with any of that, in front of the school?" Scorpius hissed, not looking amused.

"Are you taking this seriously, Scorp? Worried you might not make the cut for Slytherin? How many books did you pour over on the way here, by the way?" A tall, barrel chested girl with formidable muscles sneered, stirring up a murmur of laughter from the others. Scorpius didn't look fazed at all, and ignored the jibe on his reading.

"Not worried at all. And for the record, I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw at all. It is my belief that Slytherin may not be as pure as it used to be, for 'house unity' reasons, and I am better off furthering my education among Ravenclaw."

There was a small silence among the group of students, until a girl, who Rose got the strong impression was not very bright, spoke up.

"So...Your _daddy's_ all okay with that then?" The laughter that erupted from this comment was much meaner than the previous bouts. Scorpius looked a little queasy for a small moment, before he regained his composure.

"My father was the one who suggested it, actually. Said it may benefit me in the long run."

"Can I remind you of something, Malfoy?" The handsome boy growled, grabbing Scorpis' shirt and drawing him near.

"Oh, please enlighten me Zambini," Scorpius drawled, looking bored.

"Your father is on a lot of people's shite-lists, and the moment they can get back at him they will. I would suggest not upsetting the elders even more, you _little_ _twit_."

"Did you really have to sneak a comment on my height in there, Zambini?"

The Zambini boy looked bewildered.

"Merlin's Beard, Malfoy! I'm trying to help you not get into-"

"Students!" Professor Goshawk had returned. Zambini was quick to release Scorpius, who fell to the ground and had to wipe himself off. "Are you ready? Clean yourselves up real quick, you will be up in front of the entire school in a moment's time, you want to look good! Single file line!"

Rose got in line in front of Albus, and behind the spiky haired boy. They proceeded to the Great Hall, almost too slow for her taste, and the professor threw open the enormous twin doors.

Rose had never seen anything so beautiful. Candles dipped and swayed in the air, floating anywhere from inches above the table to almost touching the endless ceiling. The ceiling was bewitched to look like the night sky- the bright moon was all the illumination needed for the dinner. Silver plates and goblets lined the four large tables, and golden ones were sitting upon the teacher's table.

The group began to move towards the front of the dining hall, and suddenly all eyes were on the nervous first years. A boy with messy hair at one of the tables whistled loudly before getting reprimanded by an older student.

Before the entire school, all Rose could think about was her hair. The girl with the long, beautiful hair was now in front of her, and jealousy nibbled on Rose's heart for a moment before giving herself a quick prep talk. _No matter what happens, your family loves you. Remember that Rose._ She thought to herself urgently, hoping that she would just get Gryffindor like she wanted.

Professor Goshawk placed a four-legged stool up in front of the entire school, and on top of it was a tattered, dirty hat. Beside it was another hat, this one brand new, a Chicago Bears snapback. It looked very out of place among all the medieval themed decorations.

Then the hat twitched. For a moment fear caught her throat- was she going to have to fight a hat?

A rip near the brim opened, like a mouth, she realized, and it began to sing:

_My poor, unknowing students, _

_I wish you luck,_

_For today you will have to endure,_

_(the agonizing stupidity of this fellow cap,_

_who, just like you, is none too bright,_

_but hopes to learn from Hogwarts tonight,)_

_so slap me on,_

_(this imbecile too,)_

_and we will tell you to which house you belong._

_Will you stride as a Gryffindor?_

_A strong and foolhardy bunch,_

_with plenty of spirit, _

_recklessness too,_

_but full of heart_

_and overflowing with bravery._

_Will you fly as a Ravenclaw?_

_A truly talented bunch, _

_where those who thirst_

_for endless knowledge_

_find their place to stay._

_Will you reside with Hufflepuff?_

_a kind and caring lot,_

_who work hard, and play harder,_

_those with patience and dedication_

_fit in here the best._

_Will you slink with Slytherin?_

_A truly ambitious crew,_

_those with dreams and plans_

_come here to find success._

_Not only clever, but resourceful too,_

_these powerful leaders will bring you through._

_So try me on, don't be afraid,_

_of this wizened old hat on a stool,_

_(and his completely inept apprentice,_

_I may add, the poor fool,)_

_and see where your best match is_

_in this prestigious school._

Applause exploded from the tables once the Sorting Hat completed it's song. Rose wanted to laugh at the barbed comments directed towards the new hat, but nobody else seemed to even have heard them, so she bit her lip.

"When I call your name, please come up and place both hats on your head. It will tell you which house to go into, and your new classmates will welcome you. The younger hat is an apprentice from America working here with the much more experienced Sorting Hat to gain insight on how to properly sort. It will give opinions first, and then the Sorting Hat will tell you the final verdict. First up! Armuerst, Ellie."

A dark little girl hopped up onto the stool. There was about a minute that passed, and then the Sorting Hat cried out,

"GRYFFINDOR!" Ellie scampered to the Gryffindor table, where they had exploded in excitement. Rose closed her eyes and focused. She tried her best to immerse herself in the values of Gryffindor, if her theory was correct, seeping herself in the proper values would-

"Malfoy, Scorpius." Rose broke her concentration, curious as to what was going to happen to the unpleasant Malfoy.

Scorpius confidently strode up to the stool, where he placed both hats on his head. The Sorting Hat dropped over his face, and he had to pull it back up. When he emerged from the hat, she could tell he was arguing. The desperation of his face was almost comical. The Hat seemed to give him a stern talking to, then proceeded to shout out,

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Dead silence. Not even Hufflepuff had managed to say anything to the boy, who hadn't moved an inch, frozen in disbelief. He also looked like he was going to cry.

Then Zambini started to clap. A very slow, deliberate clap that some of his friends and the Slytherin house began to Hufflepuffs immediately began to clap with a fervour, trying to out clap the Slytherin slow clap, but not doing very well.

Scorpius stood up, and in that motion put a completely cool and indifferent demeanor on. He swaggered very purposefully down the middle of the Great Hall, and it looked as though he had gone to join the Hufflepuffs proudly. The Hufflepuffs cheered even louder than the Gryffindors, and one was so bold as to give him a solid pat on the back.

Then he walked straight past them and out of the Great Hall.

The Hall went silent again, and the Hufflepuff's were all looking bemused, the Slytherins amused, the Ravenclaws were surrounding someone who seemed to be flipping through a manual or rule book, and the Gryffindors looked ready to go chase him down. The only table that didn't seem to know what to do was the teacher's.

"Can he just walk out like that?" Professor Goshawk had turned to address the Headmistress, an ancient woman who looked ill. Her reply was so soft that none of the students could hear it, though they could make an educated guess as to what she had said. She must have told some of the teachers to go find him, because four professors rose from the table and fled through side doors in a panic.

Rose recalled what Scorpius had told her on the train:

'_And if I got sorted into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, to satisfy your nosy curiosity, I would walk straight out of Hogwarts and board the next train home._'

He had done it. He had just decided to leave. Rose guffawed at his pigheadedness, and in turn received several confused glances.

Professor Goshawk cleared her throat, calling the attention of part of the room back to her. She continued to rattle off names, until she reached Albus. Albus walked over to the stool, sat, and was quickly sorted into-

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat hollered. The table exploded with applause and catcalls. James enveloped Albus in a warm hug, and let Albus sit beside him. Albus turned around in his seat and motioned to the empty spot next to him. _I'll save it for you._ He mouthed. Rose grinned back and nodded.

The list was long, and Rose wished her turn would just come already; the anticipation was killing her. It was after a "Warbuck, Warren," that her name was finally called. A sinking feeling settled in her stomach, and images danced in her head of her vomiting in front of the entire school.

On shaky legs Rose strode up to the four-legged stool and plopped herself down. The hardest part was done, all she had to do now was let the hats discuss what house to throw her in. She slipped both of them on, it was rather awkward to try and fit both the oversized hat and the snapback on, and waited underneath the brim of the Sorting Hat.

"Hmmm… What do you think, Snapback?" The Hat asked in Rose's head. The other hat replied, sounding like he was lacking a proper education.

"Well, I'm'a seein' lots of kindness, that fo-sho." The Snapback quipped.

"Ah, yes. And it's 'I am seeing', not I'm'a seein'. Anything else? "

"An' loads of that braverly stuff too. But there be plenny of ambition here, as well."

"Not to mention a good mind. And way to use 'as well'; I'll have you talking proper by next year," The older hat added, sounding proud that some of his speech was rubbing off on the other hat.

"Yeah, shore. Much thanks, Hat. That-a-be all-I-see. Show me how it's done." The Snapback moved on Rose's head in what felt like a bow. Or as close to a bow as a hat could get.

"Thank you, Snapback. Now, let me see a little closer here… Yes… Gryffindor would make a good match for you, as well as Ravenclaw. You certainly have the brains for it. Your ambition to beat that little Malfoy in every test just screams Slytherin….Tell me, Miss Weasley. Do you enjoy a challenge?"

"Oh, of course, Hat! I'm always-"

"Thats all I need. I'm afraid I cannot put you where I _want _to place you, however. Circumstances sometimes override- "

"Wait, what? I-"

"Don't interrupt, now. I just want you to know that if you were a normal kid, one with a plain and boring future, I would have given you a bit of a choice. You are no ordinary child, however, and I need to make sure you are placed where fate needs you to be. The other three houses would not have been beneficial for you, Rose. I need you to understand that before I tell you my decision."

"Erm, so Slytherin, then?"

"You failed to answer my question."

"I-I u-understand?"

"I don't have time for chit-chat now, but it is essential you come see me at a later juncture, not necessary this year. You will know when to come see me when the time is right, understand Miss Weasley?"

"O-of c-course."

"Now, for my decision. Good luck, Miss Weasley. I hope you were not lying when you said you enjoyed a challenge."

The Hat took a deep breath, and bellowed:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"


	4. Vinegar and Classes

**Author's Note: **

**Gah! This took two weeks for me to get up...I'm so sorry! I just kept having to redo things because I wasn't happy.:( **

**So this chapter is basically Rose meeting people and seeing her dorm and some of her first classes. Hope you enjoy the 'Puffs more than Rose does, and sorry if this chapter feels booorrrring. Also, Camille wasn't originally a part of the plot, but I just sort of wrote her in and loved her. She will probably feel a little Mary Sue at first, and this is completely intentional. You will see why in the future.:)**

The Hufflepuffs cheered with rabid enthusiasm, but Rose could not bring a smile to her face. Some part of her felt disappointed in herself- as if being sorted into Hufflepuff had been a failure on her part.

_Do you enjoy a challenge? _

Rose shakily rose from her seat on the stool and shuffled over to the Hufflepuff table, unsure as to where to sit. The younger and older students all seemed intermixed with each other, making it difficult to find a spot that wasn't awkward to sit in. Why couldn't she just plop herself down with fellow first years like every other house?

_It is essential you come see me at a later juncture._

"Come here, Rose!" A tall, pretty girl with muggle braces waved to her. Rose slouched onto the seat next to her. The muggle braced girl introduced herself, but Rose was too immersed in her own thoughts to pay her much attention.

_I'm afraid I cannot put you where I _want _to place you._

Rose could hear the hum of students around her, talking quietly in anticipation, some in disbelief. All her thoughts kept replaying the hideous conversation between her and the ragged old hat over and over again, trying to snatch a missing word or phrase that would make everything clear. Clarification suddenly had an all-consuming importance for Rose, but it was just outside of her grasp.

_I feel like I am missing something. _She mused, rubbing the placemat between her thumb and forefinger. _If I could just figure out what it was!_

The pretty girl with muggle braces grabbed Rose by her wrist and pulled her torso so Rose was facing her. It wasn't painful, but the abrupt motion startled Rose, finally drawing her attention to the other girl.

"Listen here, sweetie. I know you are in shock right now, and that is completely okay." _Perfect grin, despite Muggle braces._ Rose thought with much more venom than she normally would have.

"The Headmistress is going to give her speech after the last professor comes in, which should only take a few minutes." _How on earth did she get her hair to curl like that?_

"I want you to take some deep, calming breaths and get yourself ready for the school song and the feast." If the girl's eyes got any bluer Rose could have drowned in them.

"My name is Camille Johnson, I'm a fifth year, Prefect, and Head of the Hogwarts Choir." _Even her title is a play on the word perfect._

"If you need anything, just ask me, okay?" The girl flashed an impossibly perfect smile and patted Rose's hands before releasing them. Rose couldn't tell if she was jealous or in awe of the girl beside her; she reasoned that it was probably a combination of both. Rose had never had the desire to be like anyone else before, and the idea sickened her. She forced herself to listen to the Headmistress to distract herself from her troubling thoughts.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" The brittle and weary voice of the Headmistress was amplified by a sonorous charm. She had taken the time to stand, but was gripping the table in front of her with white knuckles to speak. Every movement she made appeared to be an exhausting battle for her, and her legs wobbled with the simple effort to stand. "I am this year's temporary Headmistress, as I have decided to come out of retirement-"

The woman suddenly began to cough terribly, and then continued, hacking the entire time.

"-until a suitable -_cough_- substitution can be found. I could bore you -_cough_- with a pompous monologue -_cough_- like your previous Headmaster…"

Students from the previous year laughed at the joke, and the woman gave a few shuddering coughs before continuing.

"...but I have decided to let you -_cough, cough, cough_- eat instead. May the feast! -_cough_- Begin!"

Rose felt bad for the woman. Whatever her malady was, it was bad enough that magic couldn't even ameliorate the problem. She turned to Camile to ask who she was.

"How do you not know who she is? Why, Rose! It's Professor McGonagall! Resurrected from her retirement, nonetheless!" Camille had exclaimed with a mouth full of roast beef. Several students down the table agreed with her sentiments- the shuddering woman was to be revered. One yelled at Camille for talking with her mouth full, which prompted more warm laughter.

Rose looked down at the table, and realized a spread of food had magically appeared on the table. Just about everything she could imagine was heaped on platters and sloshed in bowls that decorated the table. Instantaneously hungry, she dug in with relish.

"Goodness, I do miss eating." A low, sing-song voice came from behind her. Rose turned to a man dressed in a habit hovering just behind her. Her fork fell out of her hand.

_A ghost!_ She thought, getting the feeling her parents had left a lot of things out about Hogwarts in order to make the experience more exciting. She was disappointed In herself for not knowing.

"Good evening ladies! How are you all faring? Miss Johnson, I hear it is your task to bring the first years to the dorms this year? Congratulations." Camille blushed at the comment, suddenly modest, and a few of the other girls laughed at her. The ghost turned to Rose, and addressed her.

"You are, I believe, Miss Rose Weasley, am I correct? I've met everyone else."

"Erm, yes, I am. Who are you?" Rose asked.

"The name is Friar Lothar, though you can just call me the Fat Friar! Everyone else does, especially when they think I can't hear." He winked at Rose. " I am the house ghost, and if you ever need help just ask!" The Friar then turned to address a girl with a pixie cut on the opposite end of the table.

"Loreli! Did your grandmother try the recipe? I did love those scones when I was alive…" And the Friar floated away, conversing warmly with all of the students.

"Hello Rose! Welcome to Hufflepuff! I'm Prefect Harmony, and this is my twin brother, Prefect Herman." A dorky girl with large glasses flounced over and squeezed in next to Rose. Her brother, who looked very similar, squeezed in on the other side. Both had a profound lack of personal space, Harmony was playing with Rose's hands and Herman had actually began to braid the flyaways in Rose's bun.

"Er, hello?" Rose replied.

"Well," Herman began, speaking in a very high pitched voice for a boy. "Harmony and I will be doing orientation tonight, and we just wanted to tell you to bring your stuffed animals, if you brought any. If you don't a spare pillow will work! And be sure to come in your pajamas, we are having a sleepover in our gender specific rooms afterwards and it will be much easier to not have to change. Oh! And bring any snacks! We will be going to the kitchen of course but the more the-"

"Herman! Don't spoil the fun! That was supposed to be a surprise!" A few older students laughed at her indignation. Harmony ignored them and smiled at Rose, giving her a small hug before hopping up and leading her brother away. Rose was very glad to not have people touching her anymore, and wondered if everyone was this touchy-feely in her new house. She didn't know if she could make it if they were.

The eating proceeded in what felt like forever, and finally Professor McGonagall rang her fork against her goblet. She again addressed the students in her unsteady voice, battling away a cough and not bothering to stand.

"Students! -COUGH!- I would like to -cough- say that our first feast together has ended! -cough, cough- I have a few start of -cough- Oh! Please excuse me! -cough- Notices to give you, nothing new of course. -cough- First years are once again allowed to try out for -cough- quidditch. The forbidden forest is -cough, cough- forbidden to all students, unless serving detention with Hagrid. Our caretaker Whitney has a list of all forbidden items, please be sure to peruse it before classes begin on -cough- Monday. Any items that are not allowed can be turned -cough- into a teacher, and you can receive them back at the end of the year. We also -cough- have a few new teachers this year. -cough, cough- Professor Wolthstor, for Defense Against the Dark Arts. -cough- Professor Cymbrill for Flying and Quidditch. -cough, cough- Professors Applebee and Applebee, potions. "

There was applause for the new teachers, whom Rose hadn't bothered to look at, and then Professor McGonagall spoke again.

"And with that, we can sing the school song!"

As the elderly woman continued to cough, Professor Goshawk cast a charm that formed snakelike lettering in the air. The school broke into complete chaos, and Rose realized that everyone was singing at different speeds, styles, and volumes.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins were competing to see who could sing the loudest, each verse getting cumulatively boisterous as they fought. The Ravenclaws, for the most part, were singing softly to themselves. Some of the Ravenclaws didn't bother with the musical activity at all, giving each other bored looks and scoffing.

By far the best performance was the Hufflepuffs. Sweet, clear voices took up the song, riding out the notes on a similar melody, but varied styles. There was a charming barbershop quartet, three acappella groups, a plethora of duets, and a full choir lead by Camille. Some students had even transfigured instruments out of silverware, and were playing together with vocal accompaniment. There was a group that was composed completely of hums and whistling, as well as a group giving an entertaining STOMP performance.

The first years all looked at each other, unsure as to what to do. One of the newcomers, a small, latino girl, had began to sing along with one of the duets. A small, mousy boy attempted to sing along to the tune of Don't Stop Believing, although he appeared to be tone deaf. Nobody seemed to mind except Rose.

Eventually all of the newcomers had joined into the musical melee, omitting Rose, who looked down at her plate in embarrassment. She had never sang in front of anyone before, and certainly wouldn't do it now. Her parents had definitely not mentioned a group sing along before bed.

The song ended, and everyone, barring the Ravenclaws and Rose, clapped with enthusiasm. Professor McGonagall sent everyone off to bed with a wheezing goodbye, and Prefect Camille immediately jumped up and began to call,

"First years! First years! Follow me my dears! Right this way! Watch your step! First Years!" The group crowded at her feet, and she beamed at all of them. "If you would just follow me! I'm going to be showing you a special Hufflepuff privilege, so watch what I do very closely!" The girl, instead of following the other houses, went up to the High Table where the teachers had eaten. She indicated for all of them to follow her, and underneath a tapestry she revealed a door that was about half the height of a regular entrance. Inside was a gloomy pitch black.

"This little corridor goes almost straight to our dorm. It gets higher inside, you just have to duck to get in." The students followed her inside, and were relieved when they could stand up straight. Camille took off down the corridor at a steady pace, not waiting to see if anyone was following. The first years all trotted through the darkness after her.

All of the students bumped into each other when Camille suddenly stopped at another door, and made them back up so she could open it.

"Only swings inward, so does the other one. Keep that in mind!"

The breathless group walked out of the tunnel, and rejoiced when the torch light illuminated their faces.

"This way! Just around the corner now!" They turned the right corner, and came to a shadowy dead end. There was a pile of barrels, and nothing else. Rose gave a huff. _So we got lost our first night then?_ She thought.

"Watch closely now! We have a very advanced system guarding our dorm, not any silly passwords or common riddles. Only a Hufflepuff can get through here, and lets keep it that way, hmm?"

Camille carefully walked up to the barrels, and Rose wanted to laugh. _What is she going to do, hop in one? _

"Would anybody like to volunteer what happens to intruders? It isn't too bad, I promise it won't hurt. Just mildly embarrassing." The first years all looked around at each other, mentally playing the blame game. When nobody offered up their services, Camille set her charm on full power and grinned at Rose. Rose's stomach dropped.

"Rosie, I didn't hear your voice tonight during the school song, why was that?" Some chuckles from her classmates, and Rose's ears began to burn. _Is this regular initiation?_ She thought wildly. _Maybe I can transfer to Gryffindor tomorrow_.

"I, er, don't sing." Rose replied.

"Aww, how cute. You'll be singing soon, I promise." She actually had the nerve to wink at Rose before she continued. "Anyways, maybe make up for not singing and come show what happens to intruders?"

Rose inhaled, and took a step forward. It couldn't be that bad if they were demonstrating it on first years.

"Just tap on the barrel, right there." Rose didn't miss the fact that Camille had moved everyone back, including herself.

Putting a brave face on, Rose rapped her knuckles against the wooden belly of the keg. For a second, nothing happened. Then everything imploded.

With a loud pop! the lid flew off the cask, nearly hitting Rose, and fifty gallons of vinegar poured over her, drenching her. When all the vinegar had spilled, Rose was left standing in a puddle of it up to her ankles. Laughter exploded from her classmates, and Rose tried hard to laugh at herself, she really did.

But a few traitorous tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, and she quickly tried to wipe them away. Camille had noticed, and for a few moments Rose was worried that she would start to cry even more if Camille said anything.

Camille, however, said nothing. She cast a quick cleaning spell, and soon there wasn't a whiff of acidic vinegar to be found. Rose was completely dry, and felt much better. Camille then turned to the other first years, who were all still laughing, and exclaimed,

"Can we all give a big thank you to Rosie here for demonstrating for us?"

The students all made such a ruckus that Rose caught herself smiling and blushing from the attention. Camille sashayed past Rose and whispered a thank you that Rose almost missed, then proceeded to talk to the small group.

"Now, watch very carefully. If you mess up and don't learn how to pass into the Hufflepuff dorm, you could end up like Rosie here, just there won't be any Prefects around to dry you off. Look here, and find the barrel two from the bottom…" She pointed to the second stack of barrels. "and middle of the second row here… Be sure you tap it to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. The password will always be the same, unless circumstances require a change in password. Do not, and I mean _do not_ tell any out-of-house friends this password!"

Camille flashed a smile that was somehow amiable and threatening all at once. The message came across clear to all of the weary first years.

"Great! Watch me now.." She tapped the password on the correct barrel, and the cask below it moved aside to create an entryway. Camille gestured towards the entrance, more accurately a hole, and exclaimed,

"Follow me! Get ready to see the common room! Its just down this tunnel here…" There was an awkward, four or five minute walk in complete silence and then then was a circular door illuminated by what looked like a gas lamp hanging from the ceiling.

As if sensing their presence, the circular door swung open on its own, and a wave of light washed over everyone. Rose was too tired to take in her surroundings, her veins felt like they pulsed with lead and her head felt twice it's weight.

Camille handed off the boys to a stringy looking Prefect, and she lead the girls down another tunnel. A few meters in, there was another circular door, and Camille explained that there was six to a dorm, and they would stay with the same roommates for the rest of the year.

Rose was jolted from her sleepy haze when Camille assigned her to the first room. Camille tapped on the number outside of the room, 100.

"Try to remember your room number, and always check before you enter. While they should stay in the same spot for the most part, sometimes the dorms think it's funny to move."

Rose was the last girl to enter their dorm, and found that most of her belongings had already found their way to her bed. Wearily, she fell onto the bed. One of the girls tried to say something to her, but Rose had already fallen deep into the clutches of sleep.

"Rose, Rose! Wake up!" Rose woke to a pretty face much too close to her own. She jolted out of bed, accidentally landing on the floor in her panic, and took a few calming breaths. It was just Camille breaching her privacy. Again.

"Silly, you forgot about orientation. The other girls said they didn't know if they should wake you up or not, so I just came up here to get you." Camille stopped talking when she saw Rose was still in her day clothes.

"Why, Rose, you haven't even changed into pajamas! Here, all the Hufflepuffs get matching PJs." Camille reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of yellow and black pajama bottoms with a black shirt that was identical to her own. Rose took them, and was about to change when Camille cast a spell that actually switched the clothes automatically.

"I'll teach you sometime." Camille said when Rose looked amazed.

They went back through the tunnel they had came through earlier, though Rose still was in a sleepy haze. The room they had arrived in was big enough to hold all of the girls in Hufflepuff, plus some. There were groups of girls lounging in sleeping bags; the older girls all knew each other and were chattering away, leaving the younger first years to stare uncomfortably at each other.

"Since you slept for a little while, you missed all of the introductions and stuff, as well as the kitchen excursion. I'm so sorry you missed it, but you'll know everyone in a short amount of time. You can still snag a sleeping bag next to someone and hang out for the next few minutes until lights out. We would stay up later, but there's school tomorrow, and you all need to be fresh and ready to go. So goodnight Rose!" Camille ceased her babble and flounced off to greet a redhead who looked her age.

Rose wandered uncertainly into the room everyone was staying in, and recognised a few girls that were in her grade. She uncertainly shuffled over to sit with them.

"You're the girl who fell asleep?" A masculine looking girl asked. Rose nodded.

"Well! Goodnight everyone! I'm going to sleep." A latino girl sang. Rose recognised her as the first year who had joined in on the duet.

There were a few soft replies from some girls who had already began to fall asleep, and then silence. Rose slipped into her sleeping bag, noticing it was charmed to feel like she was sleeping on a mattress. Once again, sleep overcame her and all went black.

"...Rose was in here by then. All of the Hufflepuffs were accounted for last night. Why do you ask, Celindra?"

The mention of her name by the wispy voice brought Rose back into consciousness. Despite being awake, Rose feigned sleep. A familiar, authoritative voice answered. Professor Goshawk.

"Thymaline, somebody was outside of their bed when they weren't supposed to last night, and it only makes sense that it was a Hufflepuff. Honestly, I thought you weren't going to do the group sleepover anymore the first night? It makes situations like this all the more difficult."

"Dearest Celindra," the wispy, weepy voice intoned. "Is it really all that impossible that it wasn't one of your impetuous Gryffindors? Last year they were always found running around and wrecking havoc after hours. I wouldn't be surprised if it was that James Potter boy and his infuriating gaggle of friends. If I may ask, how do you know someone was out and about? Witney, was it? Doesn't he have a track record of hallucinations?"

"The paintings said they saw someone they didn't recognize slinking around, though they all argued about what the mysterious person looked like. And yes, Whitney did send in a report."

"My advice to you, Celindra?"

"Please, enlighten me."

"Go to your own house and figure things out. All of the heads of house will be doing their own investigations, so stay out of our way, would you?"

"Fine. _Good day_, Thymaline." Professor Goshawk sneered. She could be heard stalking way in a fury.

"Alright students, you can all wake up now. I know you are all pretending." The wispy voice commanded.

There was the rustle of sleeping bags, and almost every girl sat up. A few of the older girls began to giggle, and the first years were all curious as to who the younger woman in front of them was.

"Quiet down everyone, I have something I need to ask."

A respectful hush fell over the girls in the room.

"Very good." The mousy woman praised. "I am curious, have any of you gone on a little adventure last night that you shouldn't have?"

There was a collective no from the group.

"Very good. I just needed to know! To those of you who are unaware, the name is Professor Chrisna, and I will be you're head of house. If you ever need anything, please come ask me! Now, everyone should be up in five minutes and afterwards head back to your dorms to change. Older students- make sure you escort a first year to breakfast. I'll be down in a little bit." The strange, willowy woman floated out of the room, leaving the Hufflepuff girls to their own devices.

The few who had managed to sleep through the entire thing were woken up, and the sleeping bags all disappeared when the last girl wiggled out of hers. All of the girls, wearing their matching Hufflepuff pajamas, walked out of the room and back into the tunnel leading to the dorms. Rose wandered back towards the entrance of the tunnel to find her room, number 100.

It was where it was supposed to be, which made her feel grateful, and she managed to get inside much before any of her roommates and changed. Just as she was about to leave her five roommates filled in, all talking as if they were already familiar with each other. Rose felt too emotionally drained to try and make friends, so she snuck out before any of them had the chance to say anything to her.

"Hey, Rosie! Where are you off too, all alone?" Prefect Harmony skipped over, and Rose could feel herself groan inwardly. _Can't these people leave me alone for five seconds?_ Rose thought as Harmony began to chatter.

"I'll be your escort this morning, if that's okay with you! I just love bringing the firsties to their first breakfast. You will love all of the different foods they have. I'm talking bread, toast, every juice imaginable, cereal, pancakes, bacon…."

Rose couldn't listen to her irritating voice any longer. She shut her out and began to contemplate how she was going to make it through the first day of school without becoming upset. She knew it was of the absolute importance she didn't let her grades drop because of her sorting, so she would have to make herself accept her new house.

But Merlin, she did not want to be here, listening to this annoying seventh year blab incessantly about breakfast. They were almost to the Dining Hall through the special Hufflepuff entrance by the time she quit listing off foods, and now she was gossiping about a Quidditch match the previous year.

"...Of course, we knew that it was a foul. But the woman didn't call a penalty! Why would you not call anything for something as big as that? I know we are Hufflepuff, but still, it wasn't okay for us to make a dirty play like that. Lucas was so mad at Anthony…" Rose almost laughed when she realized that Harmony was complaining about a foul _not_ getting called on the _Hufflepuff_ team.

They sat down to the meal, where Rose realized that she was ravenous, having not eaten much the previous night. Wolfing down her meal without talking, she hurried back up to her dorm to prepare for her classes. Her first class was Herbology with Gryffindor, and Rose was worried what her cousin would think of her sorting.

To take her mind off Albus, she flipped through the heavy textbook, _An Essential Guide to Herbs and Their Care_, and found full color images that moved and swayed in the text. She was glad that a familiar professor, Professor Longbottom, would be teaching her first class.

"Are you Rose?" A voice rasped from the bed next to her. Rose looked over to see a colorless, skeletal girl next to her. She, too, was reading through her textbook, though she looked so fragile Rose worried that it might break her arms if she had to carry it far.

"Yes," Rose replied softly, as if her voice alone could cause harm. "What's your name?"

"Carly. Carly Shae. I'm a Muggleborn, and also worried I won't know anything about my classes."

Rose giggled.

"I feel the same way, but I'm not Muggleborn. Class starts in fifteen minutes, do you want to go find our classroom?"

Carly smiled shyly and nodded. She struggled to stand, and shakily put her books into her bag. Rose suspected there must be a charm on the bag to make it feel lighter, because the girl looked like a breeze could knock her over, let alone a sack of books.

"Lets get going," she wheezed. Rose was just about to follow her out of the door when she heard the hoot of an owl. Rose turned around to see her new owl, a small barn owl, sitting on her bed. Rose quickly went over and retrieved the note from it's claws, feeding him a small treat as a reward. She wanted to know how he had gotten into her room, as there were no windows and the door had been closed, but Rose was running later than she wanted for class and crammed the problem to the back of her mind.

Rose shoved the note in her bag and followed Carly out of the dorm, noticing how slow her classmate walked. The two arrived just in time for troll call.

"Where are the rest of the Hufflepuff girls? And Scorpius?" Professor Longbottom asked them.

"I think a teacher held them back, someone got pranked by peeves. It was a mess." One of the boys called from the back of the room. Rose recalled him from dinner the night before but could not name him. Rose shifted in her seat, which was in the front of the class and closest to the wall. The seat directly in front had been taken by a cute, if overweight, Gryffindor.

"Ahh, they didn't invite him again this year. Hopefully they can catch the end of class, I think we will start without them, then?"

Professor Longbottom was a calm teacher, not taking much class time to lecture but instead leading them all out to the Greenhouses. He explained all of their classes would be in one of the Greenhouses, and he would tell them which one to go to at the end of each class. Today was a simple lesson- just cleaning utensils and proper potting and repotting techniques. The entire class gave a roar of outrage when Professor Longbottom gave them homework and excused the missing students from the assignment.

"Just a few sentences about what type of compost is the best. It isn't too hard." He admonished, dismissing the class.

The next class was Transfiguration with the Slytherins. All of the students who had been missing from before had finally made it, excepting Scorpius. Rose sat with Carly in the back of the room, which was a strange sensation for someone who always felt the need to be near the teacher. She almost felt nervous, not being in the direct sight of the professor.

Speaking of the teacher, there didn't seem to be one present in the classroom. There was just a springbok standing at the front of the class, watching the clock impatiently. It's tiny cloven hooves tapped on the stone floor, and it was flipping through papers on the desk with it's snout.

At exactly the moment class was to start, the small ungulate pranced in between the rows, inspecting everyone with it's nose and making a show of jumping over one of the occupied desks. The class roared with laughter as the little Slytherin girl squealed when the springbok nearly clipped her head with its hind leg.

Then the animal skipped its way up to the very front of the class, where it stopped and stared at them for a few moments. Then the creature began to change right before everyone's eyes, morphing into a human woman with black hair secured into a messy bun. The teacher, Professor Quiddle, clapped her hands together with enthusiasm and told the class they would be transfiguring matches into needles. There was a promise of a prize for the most accomplished set of needles, and the class dove into the assignment with fervour.

Partially through the session, Scorpius stormed in, and the entire class stopped their task to stare unabashedly. He gave an upset huff, and ran his hands through hair that had been messed up. His hair was also no longer an almost white colour, but dark green.

He looked from the empty seat next to Rose, and an empty seat next to two Slytherin girls. He made no hesitation when he sat next to the two girls, one stocky and the other lanky. Rose gritted her teeth, and tried to ignore him.

She had managed to transform three of her matches when it was time for class to terminate. Professor Quiddle squeaked in exaltation when she saw how far along Rose had gotten.

"Ten points to Hufflepuff!" She had called, patting Rose on the back and congratulating her. She moved along to inspect how the rest of the class had done.

"Twenty points to Hufflepuff! _Very_ good!" The woman exclaimed again, this time making more noise. Rose whipped around to see who had done so well.

Scorpius meet her gaze with a smug grin and raised eyebrows. Professor Quiddle was standing there fawning over him, and a few classmates had gotten out of their seats to see what the commotion was.

"Look at that, he transfigured all of them!" Carly said from beside Rose. "With half the time as everyone else, too."

Rose clenched her teeth. She had determined that perhaps beating Scorpius in all of her classes may be more difficult than she had originally thought.

Class ended soon afterwards, and as Rose was packing up her things someone bumped into her, _hard_. Her books spilled from her hands onto the floor with a _thump!_ and Rose gave an exasperated cry. _I'm already running late! _She thought, hurrying to grab her things from the floor. Carly had bent down to help her, but Rose stopped her.

"You need to get to class, save me a seat, okay?"

"Okay, hurry though. You don't want to be late." Carly said, shuffling slowly out the door.

Rose sighed and scooped up all of her possessions into her arms, cramming them into her bag. She winced as she heard perfectly good parchment get crumpled with the action, but hustled down the hall to her next class. She had to get all the way into the dungeons for her Potions class with Gryffindor.

She was late, but luckily her teacher was as well. She quickly slid into the empty seat next to Carly and thanked her.

"Well, now that our last student has finally arrived, five minutes late, I might add, we can begin class." A voice rang out from an empty wall. The entire class tried to find who had said it, but there wasn't anybody there.

Then Rose noticed a ripple in the wall, hardly noticeable and about the size of a person. She pointed it out to Carly, who laughed and said,

"A disillusionment charm? Nice."

"Very good! Who figured out the charm?" The ripple disappeared, and in its place there was a younger woman in bright purple robes standing with an excited expression on her face. Carly pointed at Rose, and the woman beamed at her.

"10 points to Hufflepuff!" The woman called out. "Xander! Come out! Time for class!"

A man who looked almost exactly the same as the woman, excepting height and being lankier, came out of a door in the back wearing bright blue robes. Rose immediately recognized the man- bright blue eyes and blonde hair that had ran into her at Diagon Alley while she was school shopping.

"We are Professors Applebee-" The woman started.

"-and Applebee." The man finished. Rose realised they were twins, and that they seemed to have an uncanny way of finishing each other's sentences.

"But you can call us Miss Applebee-" Miss Applebee said.

"-and Mr. Applebee to avoid any confusion." Mr. Applebee finished. They continued to speak back and forth, starting with Miss Applebee.

"We are well known-"

"-for working on and developing-"

"-the longer lasting polyjuice potion-"

"-and a more powerful Wolfsbane Potion."

"Anyways, more about that later."

"Today we will just be administering a little test-"

"-just to see who your potions partner for the year is." Miss Applebee finished explaining as Mr. Applebee handed her a pile of tests.

"So don't be asking your neighbor any questions! You want your partner to be at your skill level so you can work on potions that are at your skill level together." Mr. Applebee added.

The test took the entire hour, and was very easy for someone who had already read the text. Rose finished a solid fifteen minutes early, followed a minute later by Scorpius. Albus and Carly followed five minutes later, and soon many other students began to flood up to the front of the room with finished papers.

They were all dismissed for lunch, and Rose left while talking with Carly and Albus. (Albus, for the record, was not disappointed in Rose at all.) For the first time since her sorting she felt like she finally had her feet on firm ground; now all she had to do was find a way to beat Scorpius in all of her classes.

**Author's Note: Okay, so I'm wanting to get a beta for this story, because I know I'm making mistakes, and I'm too scared to just message someone of the beta list. Does anybody know someone who would be willing to beta? Or would someone reading this like to beta for me? PM me and let me know if you are interested, or if you know someone.:)**

**Also, tried to look up the two story suggestions I got, but couldn't find either of Maybe I'm just not smart enough to work this website.**

**Anyways, thank you so much for reading this! And reviewing, if you are one of those fabulous people.:)**


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